


Bed Me for Breakfast

by stevens-gem-family (live_from_new_york)



Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Bed & Breakfast, Alternate Universe - Human, F/F, Fluff, Found Family, Friendship, On the Run, Romance, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-10-31
Updated: 2020-01-12
Packaged: 2021-01-15 02:43:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 21,474
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21246188
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/live_from_new_york/pseuds/stevens-gem-family
Summary: Amethyst lives life on the run: sleeping in her van, eating drive thru tacos, following the waves. Then, a chance encounter with the boy who lives at the local Bed & Breakfast changes everything.





	1. Prologue

As the dark waves crashed on the shore, Amethyst sighed and covered her head with her hands. The sand was coarse beneath her body and the sun was heavy against her dark skin. This was never how this was supposed to happen, she thought. She was in over her head, with a van full of junk and a surfboard stained with overuse, and absolutely nothing else. Absolutely no one else. 

If someone had told her how much work giving up the family name would be, she might not have run away in the first place. But here she was. Alone, tired, hungry, and bored. Money wasn’t the issue, since she somehow hadn’t been cut off from her credit card; she could be anywhere she wanted right now. But halfway through her trip up to Empire City, she’d lost steam. She’d pulled over at this beach and let the weeks of traveling catch up to her all at once.

“Are you homeless?” 

Amethyst groaned at the voice’s sudden intrusion and rolled over onto her stomach, hiding her face under her thick hair. 

“Are you dead?” 

“Do I sound dead to you?” came her muffled response. 

“I don’t know. I’ve never met a dead person. I was mostly kidding though, because you didn’t answer and you looked dead. That would be pretty funny.” 

“Look buddy,” Amethyst groaned, using her hands to push her up onto her side. “I’m not dead, and I’m only homeless because I-” She paused, taking in the sight of the person next to her. The boy couldn’t have been older than 10, but his mop of curly hair and oversized tee shirt practically shrunk him down to 8 or younger. “Wait, dude, where are your parents?” The beach surrounding her was empty at this hour, aside from this seemingly abandoned child. 

“Um… everyone’s probably at the bed n’ breakfast still! It’s still really early in the morning, they’re probably still serving breakfast.”

“Still?” Amethyst chuckled at his repetition. 

“Yeah, I mean, if they missed Waffle Wednesday everyone would be so mad. I think that’s the only reason Peridot is even here today.” The boy said this as if it was obvious, and as though she knew who Peridot even was. 

“Well, you shouldn’t be talking to strangers, kid. Especially not dead, homeless strangers.” 

The boy’s eyes widened as he took a step away. “You don’t look dangerous or anything though.” Amethyst could hear the hesitation in voice, as he rethought his idea of her. 

“I’m not. But I could have been. What if I’d been a vampire, huh?” Amethyst leant a spooky tone to her voice, as she gathered the will to stand. “And I sucked your blood!” 

The small boy laughed, his hesitation gone, “It’s too sunny out! Vampires can’t be in the sun!” 

Amethyst stood now, looking down at him, “What’s your name anyways? And why aren’t you at this ‘bed and breakfast now’? I have so many questions.” She snorted, “Are you dead and homeless?” 

“I’m Steven! I’m alive. And here collecting seashells just for fun. My family’s always busy in the morning, so I kinda just do whatever I want, I guess” 

“Livin’ the dream, Steve-o.” While it didn’t seem particularly responsible to let a little kid wander the beach alone, Amethyst knew she wasn’t in any place to judge. She carefully dusted the sand off of her jeans, old jeans that were covered in crudely done ballpoint pen drawings and small tears that definitely weren’t there when she bought them. 

“Who are you?” He asked. Amethyst looked Steven up and down. When she didn’t immediately answer, he continued, floundering for a conversation topic. “Uh, I like your tattoo, what kind of flower is it?”

“What?” She blinked, looking down at the dramatic coloring on her collarbone, “Oh, um- it’s a clematis. Should you be getting back to your house?” She leaned down to grab her wallet and keys from the sand before beginning the walk back to her van. “Because I should probably get out of here, and it’s weird that you’re out here all alone.” 

“I don’t have anywhere to be.” Steven just blinked up at her, waiting. 

“I’m Amethyst, by the way.”

Steven followed behind, his heels sinking a little as the sand shifted beneath his feet, “It’s great to meet you, Amethyst!” 

“Do you need me to call somebody for you?” She called over her shoulder. 

“No, I’m good. Do you want to come over for waffles?” Steven’s eyes lit up. “You could drive me home and then meet everybody at the inn!”

Amethyst was sure her stomach could’ve grumbled at just the idea of food. Rolling her eyes, she deadpanned, “You’re not supposed to get into strangers’ cars. This was all a test! You shouldn’t talk to people you don’t know.” 

Steven furrowed his brow. “It’s just up the road though, we could walk, right? Then I wouldn’t be getting in anyone’s car.” 

Amethyst laughed, and had to concede her point. “Fine. Which way are we headed?” Before she knew it, she was on her way to Temple Inn, hand in hand with Steven.


	2. Meet or Greet

Steven hadn’t been lying, the modest seaside inn was no more than 10 minutes from where Amethyst had chosen to beach herself. The short walk had been accompanied by Steven’s unofficial tour of the area and full of something pure and joyful that had allowed Amethyst to laugh along with his commentary. 

“Oh! This tree is so tall; I tried to climb it last summer and I got stuck.” One of Steven’s small stubby hands was still clasped in hers, but her eyes followed the other as it pointed to a large ancient-feeling tree. “I was up there for almost an hour! I met the cutest bird, and I named her Susan. I think she had a hurt wing. She stayed right next to me until Garnet found me and got me down.” 

Amethyst scoffed, “I could climb that tree, easy.” 

“Well, you’re way bigger than me, so that’s not fair!” 

Steven’s attempt at a pout was cut short by his realization that they’d finally reached their destination. “This is it! Welcome to the Temple Inn!” He took his hand from Amethyst’s and ran ahead to the porch of the large, yet quaint, home. 

Amethyst quirked an eyebrow as she assessed the property. Nestled into a cliffside near the edge of the grey ocean water sat the Temple Inn, a modest home that made her feel like she’d stumbled into a postcard. A cozy porch with scattered Adirondack chairs and decorative pillows wrapped around the outside, and a lighthouse-esque turret loomed over the rest of the home. It looked like every possible surface held a window and the intricate edging that framed the rest of the building looked practically surreal. On one side, the home was shadowed by a sparse grove of trees, on the other, a large open area led up the cliff. 

In the distance, near the midpoint of said cliff, Amethyst could see a woman hanging laundry on a line. “Geez, you didn’t tell me we’d have to time travel to get here,” she quipped. “I didn’t even know places like this still existed.” 

“This place has been around forever! I guess it is kind of like time traveling, but I think that’s why people like it. Come on in! You have to meet everyone!” Steven gently pulled Amethyst through ornate french doors in the center of the porch. She had half expected the inside to look like a grandmother had thrown up on the walls and furniture, but the cool, simplistic tones of the walls were a pleasant surprise. She followed his lead away from the small front desk, through an archway and into a small dining room. 

Over the din of the patrons and their dishes, Amethyst could hear jazzy piano music drifting through the air. The room contained just a few round tables, with white linen tablecloths draped over them and small chrysanthemums in skinny vases acting as simple centerpieces. To say that Amethyst, in her ripped, graffitied jeans, smudged day old makeup, and disheveled hair, was out of place, would be an understatement. 

“Well, if it isn’t my good friend Steven! Nice of you to finally drop by,” A voice boomed from across the room. “How’ve you been, little buddy?” 

“Bismuth!” Steven’s eyes lit up as he dashed between tables, to a woman with the darkest skin and the lightest hair Amethyst had ever seen on one person. “When did you get back? How long are you staying? _ Did you bring me anything?” _His small voice trembled with excitement at the idea of gifts, and Bismuth chuckled fondly. 

“Bring you anything? I brought you everything!” Her laugh grew louder, and despite Amethyst’s general discomfort, she really enjoyed the sound. Bismuth reached behind her chair and pulled several small gifts out of her bag. As Steven ooh-ed and ahh-ed over the various shabbily-wrapped knick knacks, Amethyst began to feel the awkwardness settle back in. Steven hadn’t introduced her to anyone, and she certainly wasn’t a guest... what business did she have inside of the Temple Inn? 

Taking care not to disturb any of the guests, Amethyst wove her way to where Steven had nested himself onto Bismuth’s lap. Squatting down until she was eye-level with him, she muttered quietly. “Alrighty, now that you’re home safe, I’m just gonna…” Instead of finishing the sentence, she simply jerked her thumb back over her shoulder, trying to ignore the inquisitive eyes of the other people in the room. “It was _ really _great meeting you though.” She reached a hand forward and mussed Steven’s thick curls. 

“Aww, but Amethyst, you can’t go yet,” Steven’s hands around her wrist tugged at her heart. 

“Who’s your friend, short-stack?” 

“I’m no one, seriously.” Amethyst averted her eyes. How could she explain that?_ I’m just a homeless run away that the kid found on the beach. Oh, and I followed him home because the alternative was him getting in my sketchy van. _

“This is Amethyst. She’s from the beach! We met this morning and she walked me home so we could eat waffles together.”

“It was nothing like that, honestly,” Amethyst blurted out, “I was just like, tanning? Yeah, I was tanning. And he walked up to me! I was just worried because he was all by himself so early in the morning.” It felt like sweat was visible on her forehead. 

If Bismuth saw through her flustered lies, she didn’t say anything about it, “It’s great to meet you, Amethyst. Any friend of Steven’s is a friend of mine!” A large hand clapped her on the back, and she stumbled forward in her squat with a yelp, bracing herself against the light oak chair and Bismuth’s large knees. 

“I want her to meet mom, and Garnet, and Ruby and Sapphire!” Steven exclaimed, pushing down off of his perch. “Can you hold onto my gifts for a minute? I don’t have my cheeseburger backpack on me, otherwise I’d bring them along.” His face was set in a serious line, and despite Amethyst’s instinctive reaction to laugh at the expression, Bismuth simply nodded.

“You got it, boss. They’ll be here whenever you need ‘em.” Her serious face softened as she turned back to Amethyst, “It was great meeting’ you, Amethyst. Thanks for escorting the little man home.” 

Amethyst saw Bismuth wink out of the corner of her eye as Steven turned her away towards the door in the back corner of the dining room. 

“Sapphire’s probably in here helping to clean up the kitchen. Ruby tends to make a mess while she’s cooking,” Steven laughed, then pushed the swinging door aside, and sang their arrival. “We’re he-ere!” 

“Steven, welcome back. I hope you enjoyed your morning walk. Did you find the seashells you were looking for?” 

Amethyst felt her stomach sink. _ That’s not all he found, _she thought. The woman at the sink looked back over her shoulder through thick bangs. Her smile was slight, and would’ve been comforting in any other situation.

“Ah… no.” Steven rubbed the back of his head and chuckled. “But I did find this! Meet Amethyst!” 

Sapphire carefully dried her thin hands with a towel as she turned to greet them. “Amethyst. It’s wonderful to meet you.” One of her hands extended out, and Amethyst took it awkwardly and shook. 

“It’s- um, it’s nice to meet you too. Sorry to just barge in.” Amethyst tried to laugh, but the noise came out choked and mottled. 

“This is Sapphire!” Steven tugged Amethyst down towards him in order to whisper conspiratorially in her ear, “She’s like my grandma, but she _ hates _it when I say that.” 

“I heard that.” 

Steven laughed, and Amethyst let herself join in. “Sorry, Sapphire. But it’s true!”

“Yes, yes. I suppose it is.” Sapphire gestured towards the countertops. “I’m just about finished here, but Ruby is in the back with Garnet. There are juice boxes in the fridge that you can take out to them”

“Okay!” Steven released Amethyst’s hand to dig through the fridge, while Sapphire turned back to the few dishes left in the sink. After a few moments of rustling and clattering, Steven removed two juice boxes victoriously. 

“Let’s go, Amethyst! Bye, Sapphire, love you!” Because his hands were currently occupied by juice boxes, he simply nudged at Amethyst’s side with his elbow, gesturing for her to follow him through the screen door on the opposite side of the room. 

“I love you too, Steven.” Sapphire’s voice called after them.

Amethyst was hit by a rush of fresh air as they exited from the kitchen. The feeling of time traveling to some idyllic scene from the past returned like deja vu as she took in the sights of the area behind the inn. The grassy expanse was a vibrant green and the perimeter of the building was decorated with colorful flowers. Her eyes followed the grassy area as it led up the hill, to the laundry line she had seen earlier. 

“Hmm…” Steven hummed, looking around the area. “I don’t see them out here, do you?” 

“Dude, I don’t even know what they look like.” 

“Know what who looks like?” 

Amethyst’s heart stuttered, shocked by the unexpected voice, and she turned around, reflexively stepping back from the sound. 

“Ruby!” Steven cheered. To Amethyst, it was starting to seem like his voice was permanently stuck on the ‘ecstatic’ setting. “I brought you this juice box as a reward for all your hard work.” The humorous reverence in his tone wasn’t lost on Ruby or Amethyst, and they chuckled as he passed the juice box over into Ruby’s hands. 

“Thanks, kid. Nothing better than a cold juice box on a hot day.” Ruby drank slowly through the straw. Without taking her mouth away from the drink, she raised an eyebrow and pointed silently towards Amethyst. 

“New best friend,” the fact came simply out of Steven’s mouth. “Have you seen Garnet? Sapphire said she was out here with you.” 

“Garnet? I don’t know any Garnet…” Ruby scrunched her face up and placed a hand over her chin. “Garnet, Garnet, Garnet…” 

“Ru-uby!” His smile became exasperated, and he rolled his eyes good-naturedly.

“Sorry, buckaroo, I’m ‘fraid I’ve never heard of this Garnet fella.” Ruby drawled, shaking her head. 

Amethyst felt like she was in a fever dream. Who were these people? Who was this kid_ ? _ And _ why _ was Ruby a cowboy? 

“Boo.” 

“Garnet! I knew you were here!” He turned quickly to hand Garnet her juice box and wrap himself around her legs, “Meet my new best friend, Amethyst!” 

Amethyst had turned to look at Garnet. In joggers and a sports bra, she was seemingly ready to work out. Amethyst forced herself to look away from the flattering outfit and into the mirrored sunglasses that obscured her eyes. 

She set a heavy hand on Steven’s mop of hair. “I thought _ I _was your best friend, Steven.” Amethyst imagined that Garnet’s voice was what a smirk would sound like. She spoke in a level tone, with her lips crooked up to the side, like she was trying to contain a smile. Before Steven could come up with the correct response, Garnet turned to Amethyst and extended a hand. “It’s great to meet you, Amethyst. Any best friend of Steven’s is a best friend of mine.” 

Those words, the same that Bismuth had said just minutes ago, rattled around in Amethyst’s brain. Repeating over and over. 

“Of ours, really.” Ruby added, “We’re happy to have you here! Do you live in this area?”

“Oh... thanks. I - well, no, I don’t live in the area. I guess I sort of live in my van, right now? I’m passing through town, ‘cause I’m... ‘on the run’ in a way.” Amethyst used half-hearted finger quotes to distance herself from the description. Every time she tried to verbalize to someone what she was doing so many miles away from home, she heard how silly it sounded out loud. She couldn’t imagine it sounded much better to these strangers, hearing that their kid had picked up a scrappy vagrant from a van down by the beach. 

“Life on the open road… Sounds neat!” Ruby’s wistful smile seemed genuine, but Amethyst couldn’t shake the nagging idea that she was being mocked. 

“Very adventurous.” Garnet agreed with a slight nod. 

“It’s been alright. It’s definitely lonely, but I’ve been following the coast and going north, stopping to relax or sometimes surf every few days.” When their smiles didn’t turn or fade away, Amethyst relaxed her voice a little. “I just kinda wander where the wind takes me.” 

“Don’t you mean where the _ waves _ take you?” Steven’s small eyebrows raised up and down as he waited for the women to acknowledge his joke. “Get it, guys, because she likes to surf?” 

“It was a very good joke, Steven.” Garnet’s praise was obviously genuine, and Amethyst’s shoulders (which had begun to feel permanently tensed) relaxed just slightly. 

A gentle silence fell between them, and Amethyst almost had to physically restrain herself from trying to fill it with small talk. Once Garnet had finished her juice box, she crushed it silently and knelt down to eye level with Steven. “Make sure you take Amethyst on a tour of the house.” 

Steven’s smile widened, “That’s a great idea, I’ll do that right now! Bye Garnet, bye Ruby! Let’s go, Amethyst, we’ll start at the very beginning.” This time, Amethyst didn’t hesitate to take the chubby hand that reached towards her. 

“It was good meeting you guys,” she called over her shoulder. Looking down, she said, “They seem pretty cool. Do they like, own this place?” 

“Yeah, Ruby and Sapphire do!” Steven led her back through the now empty kitchen, the quaint dining room, the simple entryway, and down the porch steps, walking until they found themselves back at the beginning of the stone lined path. He turned to Amethyst with a serious expression that she couldn’t bring herself to take seriously at all. 

“The Temple Inn. First opened in… well, I don’t actually know the year, but it was definitely more than 20 years ago, by one Rose Quartz. I never really got to meet her, but she was known for being the most gracious host in all the land.”

She snorted, “All the land? What is this, Sleeping Beauty?”

“Hey! I’m trying to tell a story, Amethyst, let me set the mood.” He let go of her hand and swept an open arm towards the home. “As you can see, it’s an old-fashioned style house. Very fancy.” He gestured for her to follow him, and she did, moving up the small steps. 

“This is the front porch. Sapphire likes to sit out here and read sometimes, but she usually only does that in the fall or when it gets cold. I like to come out here to play card games with Mom and Garnet!” He stretched himself over the railing, pointing down at the flowers below. “And Ruby likes to plant flowers in the spring. The guests like it out here too!” 

“Very nice.” Amethyst nodded approvingly. 

“The porch has chairs, comfy pillows, sometimes snacks… it’s pretty awesome.” Steven counted each item on his fingers. “Next stop on our tour is... the front desk. We can probably skip the dining room and the kitchen since you’ve already seen those.”

“Isn’t it a Wednesday? Don’t you have school or something?” 

“Probably later this afternoon. My mom homeschools me, but we always have to wait until she’s done with work.” Steven shuffled through the door and ran behind the front desk. His hair was almost all that was visible over the high partition. After a moment, he popped up a little higher. “Welcome to the Temple Inn, stranger! How many nights would you like to stay at our lovely establishment?” 

Amethyst, playing along, adopted a pretentious accent, “My good man, I require 1,000 nights, immediately!” 

“That will be… let me see… carry the 4?” Steven pretended to do the math on his fingers and announced, “That will be at least eight million dollars. Probably.” 

They both broke into a fit of laughter as Steven jumped down and came back around to the other side. “What do you want to see next? This tour can really be done in any order you want.” 

“Take me to _ your _ favorite part of the house,” Amethyst paused, “or maybe we should save the best for last… What do you think?”

She could tell he was putting quite a bit of thought into his response, and she waited until he finally said, “Well, there’s still one person left to introduce you to. I can’t believe I almost forgot to have you meet my mom!” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Come visit me at @stevens-gem-family on tumblr if you have any questions, or if you're curious for more details or anything like that! Updates for this story will be pretty regular, probably about a week between chapters at the most. I've already written seven chapters, so I'm a little ahead right now.


	3. Packing My Crayons and Leaving

Steven had run upstairs a few minutes ago, hoping to bring his mom down to meet Amethyst. She’d stood awkwardly in the foyer, forced to twiddle her thumbs since her phone battery was at 15%. Eventually, Steven trudged back down the stairs all frustrated and huffy. 

“Ho boy… No dice?” Amethyst inquired, trying to seem casual. 

Steven scuffed a sandal against the floor, shoving his hands in his pockets. “She’s busy with work, she said to just wait.” 

“It’s no big deal, buddy, we’ve got time.” Amethyst threw an arm around his shoulder, trying to raise his spirits.

“But she always does this. She acts like everything I have to show her is some cheesy little drawing! She just says, ‘Mmhmm, that’s nice Steven, very good Steven’ but she doesn’t even look.” His voice was quiet, and Amethyst could almost hear the frustration clenching in his throat. 

She withdrew her arm slowly, reaching it across her body to grab her other elbow. “I know how that feels.” Her eyes focused on the ground beneath her feet, stinging with irritation that she was so personally familiar with Steven’s frustrations. 

“I’m sorry to be such a bummer, Amethyst. This tour is no fun at all.” Steven rubbed at his eye with the back of his hand and Amethyst felt her heart sink.

“What? Steven, that’s not true! I’ve already met so many cool people. It’s not your job to entertain me anyways, man, I’m an adult. I’ll be fine!” 

Steven smiled and nodded. “I guess Garnet is pretty cool.” 

“That’s the spirit! Now, why don’t you take me on a tour of wherever they keep the video games around this place?” Their laughter mixed in the air and Amethyst’s heart lightened in turn with Steven’s expression. 

Before they’d been able to make it any further in their tour, Sapphire had gently herded them back into the dining room for lunch. 

She carefully set two plates in front of them, and Amethyst felt her previous sense of otherness return with full force. 

“I wasn’t sure what you would like to eat Amethyst, so hopefully this is alright.” 

Amethyst fought the urge to stare bug-eyed up at her, “No, this is great, really- you didn’t even have to make me lunch Ms. -”

“Sapphire is fine. I was happy to make it.”

“Thanks for lunch!” Steven chimed, and Sapphire’s arm reached deftly across him to tuck a napkin into his shirt, just as tomato soup came sloshing out of his spoon. “Ha ha, nice one! Sapphire saves the day again.” 

Sapphire just smiled silently in response before returning to the kitchen. 

Amethyst’s first bite of her grilled cheese was so overwhelming that she almost didn’t taste anything at all. Her brain worked to catch up with her taste buds and, as it did, she groaned. “Ughh, I’d forgotten how good it is to have food that isn’t just a questionable drive-thru taco.” 

“How long have you been on the run?” Steven asked, the corners of his mouth shiny with soup. 

“A couple weeks now, I think? It’s kind of easy to lose track of time when you don’t have any responsibilities.” She didn’t try to hold in her burp before continuing, “It might be almost two months, actually.”

“Woah,” Steven gazed at her in gentle awe, and for a moment, Amethyst was worried he had short-circuited, “Life on the run sounds so cool…” 

“It’s definitely not as cool as a nice bed would be,” she knew her voice was full of snark, and her mouth full of food, but she continued, saying, “It’s like a trade. No responsibilities in exchange for a permanent crick in my neck.” 

“You could stay here for a night!” The excitement on his face threatened to knock her back in her seat. “We could have a slumber party!” If he heard her loud snort at the idea, his face didn’t show it. 

“I might be a little… old, for a slumber party.” 

“Oh come on… no one’s too old for a pillow fight and s’mores!” He pleaded. 

“Yeah, I don’t think so dude. Little kids don’t have sleepovers with adults. I’m sure your mom would flip.” 

“She wouldn’t flip if she saw how cool you were!” 

“Yeah, she really would.” Amethyst knew that Steven wouldn’t let it drop. He was too trusting, too naive. What eleven year old sees a grown woman and thinks a slumber party is the appropriate response? 

She tore off a piece of her sandwich, carefully pulling a long string of cheese from between the pieces, and stretched it as long as she could before stringing it across his face. His attempt at going cross eyed to look at it was frankly hilarious, but Amethyst was mostly glad to have steered him away from further slumber party talk. 

They finished their meal quickly and in relative silence, with only the sounds of the dishes and the occasional vocalized ‘yum’ from Steven. In Amethyst’s opinion, this was perfect. She’d finish her sandwich, duck into the kitchen to thank Sapphire once more for her hospitality, and then she could be on her way. As nice as everyone here had been, she couldn’t shake the feeling that she just didn’t belong. Guess that’s nothing new, though. The thought came to her bitterly, cementing the fact that, yes, she was going to leave as soon as she could. 

“Alright, Steven,” a voice echoed from the stairwell. The volume increased and they called, “Where’s this little playmate you wanted me to meet?” 

Amethyst groaned. That must be his mom. This was too much. It was too embarrassing. Little playmate? It was too weird. Her forehead landed against the table with a soft thud, and Steven chuckled awkwardly. 

“Uhh… we’re in here, mom. It’s just a friend. I told you, I have a friend I’d like you to meet!” Steven leaned over and whispered loudly, “It’s gonna be fine!”

When Amethyst finally looked up, a look of surprise crossed her face (she was at least comforted to see that it was mutual). Whoever she’d been expecting, it hadn’t been her. It hadn’t been this girl, with an intimidating stare and a beautiful face. Her short hair was mussed and her button down’s sleeves had been haphazardly rolled up to the elbow. 

“Oh! Hello there, are you… Amethyst?” As she was approaching the table, she paused and quirked an eyebrow, “Steven. Is this some kind of joke that I don’t understand?”

“Mom, this is Amethyst! She’s my new friend that I met at the beach.” Steven’s grin faltered slightly, but he soldiered on. “Amethyst, this is my mom. Pearl!” 

“Heh… nice to meet you, Pearl.” Amethyst, unsure of what she should do with her body, extended a hand towards Pearl. 

“It’s nice to meet you too…” Pearl’s voice was skeptical. Without looking away from Amethyst or returning the gesture, she continued, “Steven, I think I left my cell phone upstairs. Do you think you could go get it?” 

“Uh, sure. Where upstairs?” Steven slid down from his chair. Amethyst dropped her hand as her stomach did flips. 

“Probably in a room. Could you be a dear and go now?” Pearl nudged him gently by the shoulder, and he scurried towards the stairs. 

“Yeah. I’ll be right back.” Steven smiled, trying to reassure Amethyst unsuccessfully. 

Amethyst suppressed an audible gulp as Pearl turned her gaze back to her. 

“So…” The air was tense and stale and she’d never been good with silence. “What’s up?”

“You have to realize how strange this looks, right?” Pearl crossed her thin arms across her chest, “He’s eleven. You’re... not.”

“Yeah, about that-” 

“How did you meet my son? Have you been watching him or something?” 

Amethyst’s hands shot up, waving in front of her chest. “No, no, it’s nothing like that. He found me. At the beach.” 

“And you followed him home?” Her light tone rose sharply and Amethyst groaned. She’d had a bad gut feeling about all of this, and now she had a complete stranger suggesting she was about to do something untoward with her kid. 

Under her breath, she muttered, “I knew this was all stupid. Look- Pearl, right? I’m gonna head out.” Amethyst stood from her chair and made to slink past her and towards the door. “It was great meeting everyone, I had a great time, now goodbye forever.” 

“The exit is the other way, Amethyst.” Pearl’s voice was low and unforgiving, but Amethyst refused to admit she wanted to hear more. She was almost certain that, in any other situation, she’d be hitting on Pearl rather than attempting this conspicuous of an escape. 

“Riiiight.” She spun quickly past Pearl again, and made for the exit. The real exit this time. 

“Mom! I can’t find it anywhere!” Steven’s shout bounced down the stairs, growing louder as he got closer. 

“Oh! Silly me, it’s right here in my pocket!” Pearl hardly looked fazed by her lies, and she gestured towards Amethyst. “You were leaving?” Her eyes traced slowly up and down Amethyst’s figure without softening. 

“Yeah. I’m leaving.” Before she could make it much further, Steven’s voice stopped her. 

“Why? You just got here!” 

“Steven, Amethyst has grown up things to do, she has grown up responsibilities. It’s time for her to go. Say goodbye and then we’ll get started on your school work.” She busied herself with tidying the table where Steven and Amethyst’s dishes were still half full, blind to the frustrated look on her son’s face. 

“What responsibilities? You just told me you don’t have any responsibilities!” Steven’s evident confusion caught Pearl’s attention, and her hands stilled for just a moment over the table. 

“Um… well, I’ve got to, you know,” Amethyst floundered, waving a hand loosely, trying to convey a meaning she didn’t even know. 

“Steven, there’s no need to pry.” Pearl chided, “Say goodbye and wish her a safe drive back to her house.” 

“Mom, what did you do?” His voice wasn’t the whine that Amethyst had expected or the anger that Pearl had expected, but instead just a soft defeat. Pearl stammered in response before he continued, “If you’d talked to her for more than 10 seconds, you’d know that she doesn’t have responsibilities, she’s on the run. She isn’t even going back to her house, because she lives probably, like, 5 states away.”

Pearl turned, alarm obvious on her face, “On the run? From who, the police?” 

“No! I’m just-” Amethyst sighed, pushing her hands back through her tangled hair. “Steven. I know you wanted to hang out and junk, but you’ve gotta understand how weird this looks to your mom. I don’t blame her for kicking me out-” 

“Well, I wouldn’t say ‘kicking,” Pearl interrupted.

Amethyst stepped forward, ruffling a hand through Steven’s hair, “I had a great time with you this morning, buddy. Thanks for the tour, everyone was super awesome.” Before he could respond, she ducked out the front doors, but Steven was close behind. 

“Hey, let me at least walk you back to the beach! Please, Amethyst?” The whine that Amethyst had expected earlier hit her like a brick, and she stopped. 

“Why, dude?” Amethyst retorted quietly, “What is your deal? I don’t even know you, I’m a complete stranger!”

“I just-” Steven’s eyes darted from side to side, before settling on the dirt beneath his feet. “I just wanted a friend! Everyone’s been so busy since tourist season started, I’ve been really bored and lonely. I was just sick of everyone telling me, ‘later, Steven, I’m busy.’”

Amethyst didn’t know what to say, choosing instead to just reach out and set a hand on his arm. From where she’d stepped out onto the porch, Pearl’s voice broke the silence behind him. “We don’t always say that.” 

He groaned, “Yes, you do!” 

“Steven, I- I don’t appreciate your tone.” Pearl’s arms crossed in front of her and her eyes met Amethyst’s in a silent plea. 

“Well, I don’t appreciate you ignoring me!” He broke into a run, his short legs carrying him quickly down the path that he and Amethyst had been on just a few hours earlier.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Come visit me @stevens-gem-family on tumblr! I’m really trying to channel Season 1 Steven, so it’s been fun rewatching those episodes for inspiration.


	4. Would You Like to Stay Forever?

“Look, Pearl. I’m not trying to parent your kid, I’m just saying that _ maybe _ you shouldn’t have said ‘no’ in response to his feelings.” 

Nearly 20 minutes had passed since Steven had run off into the wooded area, and Pearl and Amethyst had found themselves wandering in the direction he’d gone to no avail. 

“Well, excuse me for thinking it was inappropriate for an eleven year old to bring home an adult stranger!” 

“That’s not the real issue here, and you know it. He feels ignored. He feels like he isn’t good enough… like you all have better things to do than be with him. You leave him behind, and everything he does is wrong.” 

“What would you know about his feelings, Amethyst? Last I checked, you just met him this morning.” Amethyst could almost taste the contempt in Pearl’s words. “I’m his mother, I know my own son.” 

They didn’t look at each other as they walked, trying to ignore the feelings of guilt growing in their stomachs. 

“I just understand where he’s coming from, okay? I’ve felt like that before.” She kicked idly at the leaves beneath her feet, scattering pebbles and twigs across the path in front of her. “He needs to feel like an important part of the family, not just… decoration.” 

Pearl’s quiet breaths grew slowly louder, until she broke the relative silence muttering, “None of this would’ve happened if you hadn’t been here.” 

Amethyst stopped, “What did you say?” 

Pearl’s face looked conflicted; her expression was contorted between righteous anger and shame at being heard, “I just think that this wouldn’t have happened if you hadn't been there.”

“I think it would’ve been a lot worse _ without _ me there.” Amethyst countered sharply. “And, honestly, if you’re gonna talk to me like that, I might as well leave.”

“That’s perfectly fine with me.” 

“Fine. Good luck finding your kid,” Amethyst turned and took a step away, before spinning back around to face Pearl. “Maybe it’s not my place, but you need to show him you love him, instead of just telling him. That’s what I always wanted before I ran away.”

Her quiet voice was muted by the hush of the forest. Pearl couldn’t bring herself to respond as she watched Amethyst's retreating figure trudge back the way they had come. 

Amethyst eventually reached her van, and when she did she was surprised to find that she didn’t quite remember how she’d gotten there. She’d been so lost in her own thoughts and memories that her walk hadn’t quite registered, her feet had just gotten her to her destination. She circled around to the other side, pulling out her key in order to insert it into the drivers side door. As the lock came into view, she saw a small figure curled against the front wheel well. 

“Steven?” Amethyst yelped, “What are you doing here, dude? Your mom and I were looking everywhere for you!” 

She rushed to kneel next to him, her hands hesitating for a moment before an arm wrapped around his shoulders. Without saying a word, he lifted his head to set his chin on his arms. His glazed red eyes skated over the horizon, and the afternoon sun was bright against his pale skin. “I really messed up, didn’t I?” 

“Whaaat?” Her voice was too high in pitch, too surprised to be genuine. “No, you… you just… You really scared us. You really scared your mom.” 

“She’s gonna be so mad. I’m probably gonna be grounded for a thousand years.” He buried his head back into his knees. 

“Probably two thousand years,” she tried to joke, “Three thousand if you don’t make it back before dinner.” When she didn’t get a response, she coughed quietly. Kids had never been her strongest suit- she’d always been deemed a little too ‘crude’ to be around her nieces and nephews all that often. 

“Look… Steven. Why don’t we get you back to the inn? Your mom’s worried sick about you, and the faster you get back, the less upset she’ll be, right?” Amethyst moved to stand, hoping that would be enough to get him to stand with her. 

“I don’t want to go back. I want to live like you- I wanna be on the run.” 

“But what about Garnet? And Ruby and Sapphire? C’mon, just this morning you were telling me all this great stuff about the inn!” Amethyst kneeled back down, realizing that he wasn’t moving. 

“Garnet’s never home. And Sapphire and Ruby are so busy with running the inn, they hardly ever talk to me anymore. The guests come and go so often... Bismuth will probably be gone again by tomorrow,” He shook his head, “There aren’t even that many other kids around here, so I don’t have too many friends.” 

“I’m sorry.” She had no idea what else she could even say in response to that. Her gut reaction was to say, _ Sorry, kid, that’s just how the world works. My parents never talked to me and I was too weird to have friends and now I’m here, hanging out with an eleven year old outside of the van that I _ ** _live_ ** _ in. _She had enough sense to know that that wasn’t what she should say in this situation, but not enough to know what the right answer was. Steven didn’t say anything either, choosing instead to stare out over the empty stretch of beach. 

After several long minutes, Steven uncurled his body and stood slowly, with one hand steadying himself against the side of the van. Amethyst fumbled to stand, shocked by his unexpected movement. 

He didn’t look up at her, but asked softly, “Could you drive me back please?” 

“Yeah, definitely, let me just-” She fidgeted with the key in the door. Once it was unlocked she jumped in and Steven watched as she threw her things from the passenger seat to the back of the van. A couple of jackets, some fast food wrappers, a pair of sunglasses missing a lens- all ended up jumbled in a pile behind the passenger seat. “Gimme just one second, okay? I have a system, I promise.” Steven chuckled, and Amethyst felt relief replacing the embarrassment she had had about the state of her car. 

“Is your system just tossing everything into the back? Because it looks like you’re just putting things in random piles…” He leaned on his tip toes, trying to get a better look into the back of the van, but couldn’t see much through Amethyst’s thick curtain of bleach fried hair. 

“It’s a _little_ more sophisticated than just tossing things, Steven.” She turned back to where he was standing just outside the door. “Alriiiight, you should be good to get in now.” 

Steven closed the driver’s side door and Amethyst rolled her window down slightly, shouting, “Hey, dingus! Watch for cars,” as he stepped out in front of the van. 

The ride back to the inn was a quiet one. Steven didn’t feel like talking and Amethyst didn’t want to force an awkward conversation. He occasionally gave her a quick direction towards the inn, but the drive was short enough that she hadn’t needed a lot of help. Once they were parked, Steven turned to her, still buckled into the passenger seat. 

“I know this is probably weird,” he prefaced, “but could you come in with me? Mom’s gonna be so mad. I don’t even know what I should say... other than ‘I’m sorry.’” 

“Yeah… of course.” She nodded, rubbing the back of her head, “I know how it feels to have angry parents.” 

Steven groaned, pulling his hands down his face slowly. Amethyst almost chuckled at the way it stretched his blotchy skin. “Honestly? The worst part is that she’s probably already told Garnet and everybody. It’s gonna be so embarrassing.” 

“We could always fake a stab wound or something,” Amethyst tried to deadpan, “give them bigger issues to worry about, y’know?” A smirk tugged at the corners of her mouth and she raised an eyebrow towards Steven. 

“I’m going to consider myself really lucky that you said ‘fake’ a stab wound.” Steven laughed before unbuckling his seatbelt and pushing open the car door. “Okay. Here goes nothing.” His arrival was anti-climatic, as they walked up from where Amethyst parked the van no one ran to them or even noticed they’d arrived. 

“Maybe your mom’s still out there looking for you,” Amethyst suggested, “I mean, you’ve only been gone like a total of 45 minutes. Or maybe she’s rightfully assuming you’ll come back, and she’s just waiting inside.”

“I don’t even know which one I want to be true.” 

“Personally, I hope she’s called in a missing person’s report already. That’d be hilarious.” Amethyst’s laugh was sharp and loud, but Steven only gulped. She opened the front doors of the inn, calling out, “Pearl? I found your child! _ And _ I brought him back!” as they entered the make-shift lobby area. 

“Mom?” Steven said, echoing her tone, “I’m back!” 

“They’re still out looking for you,” came Garnet’s voice from the dining room. 

“They?” Steven asked quietly.

“Pearl came back about 20 minutes ago, took mum with her to help her look,” Garnet stood from her chair, and Amethyst closed the large door behind them. “Everyone was very worried about you, Steven.” She knelt down, waiting until she was at eye level before continuing. “That was a very dangerous thing you did. Something bad could have happened to you, and we wouldn’t have even known.” 

“I’m really sorry, I didn’t mean to upset everybody.” His voice was small, and Amethyst could feel her own throat tightening. 

“Steven-” Amethyst interrupted, choosing her words carefully, “They know you didn’t mean to upset them, but it’s not all bad, right? Because them being upset shows how much they care about you. My parents… they still haven’t called to check up on me or see where I am,” She let a dry chuckle hang in the air before continuing, “And it’s been like two months. When I left, I didn’t tell anyone where I was going or that I was leaving, I just… got in my van and drove wherever the waves took me.” 

Garnet tapped Steven on the nose at Amethyst’s callback. Amethyst continued, “Point is, you’re a lucky kid. Even if you do end up grounded for 1,000 years.” Amethyst stuffed her hands into her pockets and shrugged, her eyes not meeting theirs. 

“The next time you need to be reminded how much we care, just ask.” 

Steven fell forward, throwing his arms around Garnet’s neck. Amethyst heard their ‘I love you’s’ muffled by the embrace. As sweet as it was, she couldn’t help but take a step back, trying as best as she could to blend in with the walls. From outside, they heard quick footsteps on the porch. Pearl’s fraught voice came dampened through the walls.

“I don’t understand why he did this, it feels so out of the blue!” Pearl rushed through the front door, and Sapphire wasn’t far behind. 

“He’ll be back before you know it, Pearl.” Before she made it completely through the doorway, she bumped into Pearl’s back. Pearl brought a hand up to cover her mouth and her eyes misted over.

“Ah… hi, mom.” Steven slid himself down from the hug, turning towards Pearl. Instead of making eye contact, he chose to watch his sandaled foot kicked at the edge of a tassled rug. Pearl’s tight hug nearly knocked him back on his feet and he hesitated before returning it with equal vigor. “I’m really sorry.”

Pearl tucked her head into the crook of Steven’s neck. It was sweet, but the publicity of the affection made Amethyst squirm. _ He was only gone for like, an hour. _ It took everything in her power to stop her from rolling her eyes or scoffing at the display. _ This _ had been what she’d wanted when she’d left home. Sure, she was an adult, but was there really an age limit on being cared for? Was it too much to ask that her parents noticed she was gone? _ Anything could’ve happened to me by now, I could be dead on the side of the road in the middle of nowhere and they wouldn’t have a clue. _The hot anger she felt curling at her lip dissipated almost instantly when she realized: that’s why Pearl had been so upset. Steven could’ve been anywhere, with anyone, doing anything; it didn’t matter that he’d only been gone an hour. For all Pearl knew, it could have been his last hour alive. 

Any anger or jealousy that had been threatening to boil over was gone as Amethyst back at Steven and Pearl. He didn’t deserve to feel the way he did; no child should have to feel expendable. _ I haven’t even known Steven for a day, but… if something had happened to him, I don’t know what I would’ve done. _Pearl’s tense voice brought Amethyst back down to earth. 

“I’m sorry too. But, Steven- how did you, I mean- When did you get back?” Pearl rocked back onto her heels, still kneeling at eye level with him. One long hand cupped his cheek while the other prodded at him gently, checking for scrapes and bruising. 

“Amethyst brought him back.” Garnet had slanted herself against the back wall of the room, and stepped forward as she entered the conversation again. “They only got here a minute or two before you.” 

“Oh.” Pearl hadn’t even noticed Amethyst was there. She sniffed and let out a wry chuckle before standing. Her tan capris were wrinkled and her face was splotched with color, but all Amethyst could see was the relief in her red-rimmed eyes. “I guess I owe you an apology.” 

“Nah, you don’t owe me anything… I’m just,” Amethyst raked a hand over her scalp, trying to pull the words she needed out of the air. “I’m really glad he’s okay,” she finished genuinely. 

Behind Pearl, she could see Sapphire inspecting Steven like Pearl had just a moment ago. Amethyst’s broken voice dropped to a whisper and she angled into Pearl, “He is okay, right? You guys are really… making a fuss.” 

“I suppose we may be a little,” her mouth quirked as she tasted the word on her tongue, “Overprotective.”

Amethyst’s voice raised in defense, “I’m not trying to say it’s bad or anything!” 

Pearl’s laugh was small and bounced in the air between them. “No, no. But it can a little much sometimes. I’ll admit that.” Amethyst thought it couldn’t have been more cliche, the way her voice sounded almost musical. Pearl paused, hesitating, but continued, “So, um… Amethyst. I know Steven would like it if you stayed for dinner.” 

From behind her, Steven perked up, “No, I’d _ love _ it if you stayed for dinner! So would everybody else!” Garnet and Sapphire nodded at his expectant and pleading look. 

“I mean… I guess? I hate to turn down free food, but I really don’t wanna bother anybody.” She looked up at Pearl, who was easily a head taller than her, and gave a wry smile, “I think I’ve already caused enough trouble today.” 

“Then please, don’t cause any more by turning down our offer,” Garnet’s amused smile felt almost smug. “Besides, we always have more than enough food when it’s mum’s turn to cook.” 

“I heard that!” Ruby’s voice from the kitchen surprised Amethyst. Had she been in there this whole time? “And I choose to take it as a compliment!” 

Before she could feel any sort of embarrassment about the bark she let out, her own laugh was accompanied by the others joining in. 

“Dinner is sure to be delicious,” Sapphire said, projecting her voice just enough so that Ruby could hear her. 

Ruby quickly stepped out into the dining room where she could see them gathered by the door. “You don’t even know what I’m making!” Her exasperation seemed comical, and Amethyst was glad the others agreed. She couldn’t hold in her snicker when she saw the t-shirt Ruby had changed into since she last saw her. The light blue shirt looked like it had been designed by a child (which Amethyst noted was very possible) and featured a crying caricature of Ruby. In thin messy letters above the cartoon, it said, ‘If Lost, Return to Sapphire.’ 

Leaning over, Pearl whispered into Amethyst’s ear, “Steven made that shirt for her last Christmas. He gave a matching one to Sapphire. Hers only says, ‘I’m Sapphire.’” Her breath was warm against Amethyst’s ear and an involuntary flutter itched down her neck at the proximity.

“You definitely need to make one for _ him _ now. ‘If Lost, Return to Pearl.’” Amethyst whispered back. 

After a brief moment, Pearl’s eyes lit up, “Oh, Amethyst, that’s hilarious!” Her laughter echoed through her shoulders, crisp and bright. A grin filled Amethyst’s face, despite her embarrassment at the attention Pearl had gathered from the others.

“See, Amethyst! I told you she’d think you were cool.” Steven grabbed Amethyst and Pearl’s hands, “Now! Let’s go make a fancy dessert to celebrate me being right.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This story may be the only good thing to ever come out of the Uncle Grandpa episode. (I'm exaggerating, of course.) I realized the other day that most of this idea had come from the scene where Pearl shouts, "That's not my baby!" at Pizza Steven. 
> 
> I can't thank you all enough for your support! It's been awesome to see everyone's reactions. If you liked this, please come say hi to me @stevens-gem-family on tumblr, or feel free to read some of my other works here on AO3! I love hearing your feedback, ideas, and thoughts.


	5. Cutscene Unlocked: Tragic Backstory

Dinner had been an easy meal. With Steven on one side and Ruby on the other, Amethyst had felt right at home. If she stopped to think about it for too long, it was disconcerting, how she felt more at ease with these near strangers than she had with her own family in the last few years. But her stomach was too satisfied with getting real food twice in one day to complain, and she didn’t want to ruin their night with her worries, so she pushed those thoughts to the back of her mind. 

“Alright. I have three pies. Chocolate, apple, and of course, strawberry for Pearl.” Garnet came from the kitchen with the pies in her arms, making a passable waitress in Amethyst’s opinion. She deftly laid the pies in front of them, dishing pieces without needing to ask for a flavor preference. That is, of course, until she reached Amethyst, and she paused before choosing chocolate. 

“We didn’t make these  _ just  _ for me, right?” Amethyst asked, after thanking her, “Pies are a ton of work.” 

“Sapphire makes the best pies,” Pearl said, pausing between tiny bites of strawberry filling, “We actually have them pretty often, so it never takes quite as long to make them anymore.” 

“They’re seriously good,” Amethyst agreed. Steven pauses, mid-bite, to agree by nodding fervently.

“Well, I certainly make better pies than Ruby,” Sapphire said with a small laugh, “She doesn’t quite have the patience for pastries.” 

“Sapphy! Just because it’s true, doesn’t mean you have to tell Amethyst.” Ruby’s fond smile contradicted any exasperation she might have been trying to convey, and Sapphire seemed to blush in response. 

Finishing her pie, noticeably faster than the others, Amethyst paused. “So I gotta ask one thing…” She hesitated, “Well, okay, I actually have a ton of questions. Because I don’t really know anything about any of you.” 

Garnet’s slight smile made her feel an odd mix of relaxed and unsettled simultaneously. 

“Shoot.” She said, pushing her glasses up by her temple. 

“Alrighty... are all of you related? What’s the deal with that?” She paused, tilting her head forward, “Do you all live here, full house style?” 

“Steven, you should answer these. You are her official tour guide, after all.” 

“You’re right, Garnet. As your official tour guide, I can answer any and all of your questions, Amethyst!” Steven’s face became serious, and he put down his fork in favor of talking with his hands. “Like I said earlier, it all started many years ago…”

“Dude, it  _ really _ doesn’t have to be a fairy tale.” Amethyst snickered at his antics, and Steven kicked her shin under the table. The shock of the feeling shut her up effectively, and he continued like nothing had happened. 

“It’s more fun that way and you know it. Don’t interrupt me!” He chomped down a quick bite of his pie between admonishments. “Anyways. A long time ago, Rose hired Ruby and Sapphire to work at Temple Inn. They were probably the same age as you, I think? I don’t know how old you are though. Ruby mowed the lawn-”

“What? I was the groundskeeper, Steven,” she interrupted. “I did a lot more than just mow the lawn!”

“Aaand Sapphire was in charge of everything else-”

“I only worked the front desk overnight and cleaned rooms in the mornings.” 

“Yeah! So, Rose hired them, but then,” he paused, an excited giggle escaping, as he turned to Amethyst beaming, “They fell in love!” 

“It was actually a lot more nuanced than that, Steven.” Sapphire corrected, but Amethyst saw Ruby shrugging. 

“I don’t know, it sounds right to me.” Her voice was small and she carefully interlaced her fingers with Sapphire’s.

“They fell in love, and they had me.” Garnet interjected. Her face still had a satisfied smile; Amethyst could see Ruby and Sapphire in her mannerisms now. 

“This is actually making a  _ lot _ more sense,” she laughed, covering her mouth with her hand.

“Guys, I’m trying to tell a story!” Steven whined, “You skipped ahead, Garnet!” 

“Not really.” 

“But you spoiled the ending! Yes, Ruby and Sapphire fell in love and had baby Garnet… but then at some point, they also moved into the Inn, to take care of it all the time.”

“Why?” Amethyst asked, wiping her chin with the back of her hand.

“Rose was getting sick. She… We didn’t know it at the time, but she started to scale back her involvement around the inn once she’d gotten diagnosed. She didn’t tell any of us for years.” Sapphire sounded bitter, a feeling Amethyst knew well. Secrets were awful, even if they were for the ‘greater good.’ “Ruby and I slowly took over the entirety of the day to day operations for her.”

“That’s when I learned how to cook! I made the guests breakfast every morning,” Ruby tried to brag. Her glee made her look like a child trapped in an adult’s body.

Amethyst felt like she was listening to the plot of a movie, the cutesy love story and the dying friend had her hooked for more details. “So, where do you and Pearl fit in, Steve-o?” 

Next to her, Steven jumped at the chance to answer, to regain control of his story, “She’s my mom!” He tried but failed to continue talking over Amethyst’s bark of laughter. 

“Yeah, I know that, dude. I’m asking how you  _ all  _ know each other.” She smiled and ruffled his hair, pushing a handful of curls over his eyes. 

“Garnet and I were school friends. We’ve known each other for nearly 20 years now, though it doesn’t always feel like it.” Pearl’s voice held a tenderness that Amethyst was almost jealous of. She didn’t have anyone that she’d known for quite that long. Not even her own family. Pearl’s smile, however, wasn’t something Amethyst envied at all. She looked so sad that Amethyst wanted to leave, to drive away and pretend she’d never asked for all the intimate details of whatever was upsetting her. The vulnerability she saw made her uncomfortable, made her pity Pearl. 

“What about you?” Ruby asked, cutting another large piece of pie and setting it on her plate. 

“Oh, yeah, more pie would be great. That stuff was delicious!” Amethyst lifted her plate towards Ruby, who quirked an eyebrow in response. 

“What? Oh, no, I meant what’s  _ your  _ story, runaway? I want all the juicy details about life on the open road.” Ruby cut Amethyst a slice of pie anyways, and Amethyst (despite hating the embarrassment she felt at the mix up) laughed, remembering the ‘western’ Ruby from earlier.

“Gee, where do you even want me to start?” She rolled her eyes, filling her mouth with a much-too-large bite of pie.

“I suppose it might be easiest for you to start at the beginning.” Sapphire hadn’t looked up from her pie for a moment, let alone spoken, and Amethyst was startled momentarily. She set her fork down and rested her chin on her hand, looking gently at Amethyst from across the table.

“The beginning of my entire  _ life _ ?” Amethyst laughed, “That would take ages, you guys don’t want to listen to that boring crap.”

“I do.” Steven said, his eyes wide and unblinking. 

“Yeah,” Ruby egged, “and don’t skip anything cool!” 

“Okay. Well, um… I was born in Cuba, and.. I don’t really remember much of it. I was living in a really big house, with a ton of different families in it.” 

“That’s kinda like what we live in!” Steven smiled, eyes wide at the possibility of connection. 

“Kinda, I guess. They’re called solares. I don’t remember much of it. I know it wasn’t great, though; mostly because I didn’t live with my parents. I just remember always being crammed because I lived in a room with like 5 other kids. Eventually, I was adopted. I was the darkest kid in my room, so I remember being totally confused when I found out.” Amethyst watched as Steven digested her words. 

“The darkest kid? Like… your skin?” He asked innocently. Amethyst nodded. “Was that bad?”

She paused, looking up to see Garnet and Ruby straight faced, no sign that she’d upset them. Yet... Should she continue? 

“Not necessarily. Just in the eyes of the people adopting, I guess. They always wanted the light-skinned girls. I thought I’d gotten so lucky, because I wasn’t young either. I was adopted by my mom and dad, who are the super rich politician type. They already had three kids and didn’t actually want another. But… eventually I realized they’d wanted the minority vote.” Pearl’s grimace in response felt natural, a little disgusted and a little intrigued, and Amethyst was just glad she didn’t have to listen to anyone here try to justify something like that. 

She’d never said half of this stuff to anyone before. At this point, the words seemed to be spilling out of her. She filled her mouth with her second piece of pie, not meeting their eyes, “I was their token ‘brown’ child. I mean, no one ever said it in those words but… They never really liked me. When I was adopted, it was this huge affair. Newspapers, reporters, pictures, the works. After the hype slowed down, it all changed. They basically fed me, clothed me, ignored me. My sisters were so much older than I was, I always got left behind. They didn’t like me much. Which was fine because I didn’t like them either.

My whole childhood was basically photo shoots and tutoring and charity dinners and it  _ sucked. _ Once all my sisters had moved out, I was on my own. My parents never wanted another kid, they’d just wanted an image, y’know? I was that image. Poor little brown girl, swooped up by warm-hearted millionaires.”

“Like that musical…” Steven mused.

“Yeah, but a crappy bootleg version.” Amethyst felt her words sharpen and winced. This is why she hated talking about this stuff, it turned her into an awful person. 

She took a deep breath. She’d talked too much, said too much, nobody wanted to hear her sob story. 

“Anyways, I was alone a lot as a teenager, got into a bunch of trouble with my friends, fought with the ‘rents, you know how it goes, right, Steven?” Amethyst blurted out those last few sentences, rushing to pull the attention off of herself. She elbowed Steven in the arm, but neither of them could offer up the amount of casualness the gesture warranted. Amethyst averted her eyes as Steven gave a wry chuckle and a quiet apology to the table. It was too soon. 

“And now you’re here?” Pearl said, raising a skeptical eyebrow at the missing details, “How did you end up this far north?” 

“A couple months ago, I got sick of my stupid parents only talking to me every few months at fancy dinners and dropping my name during interviews… ‘Oh, our sweet daughter Amethyst… remember her? We adopted her from Cuba!’” Amethyst imitated her mother’s croon with frightening accuracy, batting her eyelids and clasping her hands together for effect. “Eventually, I just left. I packed all my crap into this van that I’d bought from a friend, and drove off into the sunset.” She leaned back in her chair, arms crossed behind her head, trying to fight the sudden urge she had to kick her feet up onto the table. 

It was never easy to talk about her family. Not after she’d spent the last two months trying to pretend they didn’t exist. Especially since she should be grateful; she’d expected her credit card to be shut off by week two. Once she’d crossed state lines, she’d have bet anything that her parents would’ve called or at least passive aggressively frozen her accounts until she was forced to come home. Instead, she’d gotten radio silence. The same radio silence she’d been getting her entire life. 

“Yikes... That’s rough, buddy.” Ruby said eventually, breaking the tense quiet that had fallen over the dinner table. She seemed to ramble on, “That’s right up there with all our tragic pasts. We’re really quite the group.” She was obviously uncomfortable. She wasn’t even really sure what she was saying. 

Steven frowned, furrowing his brow, but before he could get out the several hundred questions he seemed to be dying to ask, Pearl interrupted him. 

“Steven. I know we didn’t get around to your studies today, but how about I bend the electronics rules just for tonight?” Her voice was tense and hesitant, as though getting the message out would cause her to self destruct. Amethyst almost wanted someone to reach over and tug on her collar for her. 

“Could we really, mom?” He gasped, “Amethyst! We could go watch a movie! I could show you my room and we could watch something cool… oh, like Lonely Blade! What do you say?”

The abrupt change of subject had hit Amethyst harder than she expected.  _ I guess it was still harder talking about everything than I thought.  _

“Only if it’s really okay with everybody, I guess. I can’t believe I’m saying this, but maybe we should help clean up?” 

Sapphire shook her head, “There’s no need for that. Ruby and I will take care of it.” 

Amethyst let out a large breath, slumping down slightly in her chair, “Whew. I was worried I’d have to follow through on my words there for a minute. Let’s go Ste-man, before I have a change of heart and want to  _ help  _ with all this.”

She stood up, her chair scraping backwards against the floor, and she gestured over her shoulder towards the stairs, “Lead the way, dude!” 

Before they made it out of the room, she paused, turning back to where Ruby and Sapphire were gathering dishes from around the table. She let out a deep breath, covering her eyes with one hand, “Okay, I was totally joking, yikes. I can definitely help if you guys want, I was just trying to be-"

“You’re fine, really.” Garnet said with a smile, “Go have fun, Amethyst.” Amethyst nodded, making a quick about-face and following Steven towards the stairs. 

Steven just dashed ahead, yelling behind him, “Thanks again, mom!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you liked this, please come say hi to me @stevens-gem-family on tumblr, or feel free to read some of my other works here on AO3! I love hearing your feedback, ideas, and thoughts.


	6. If It Wasn't For This Meddling Kid

“So, this area is where we all live!”

Steven had shown Amethyst most of the lower level, and parts of the upper floors, but now they had ended up somewhere altogether new. It seemed like the back corner of the house, almost disconnected from the rest of it. “On this side is Garnet’s room, and right next to it is her moms’…” 

Amethyst’s eyes followed Steven as he walked to each door. He showed her the first two on one side of the alcove, then skipped a door, “This one is my mom’s room, and this one is mine!” He threw the door open and rushed inside, flopping down onto his bed to stare up at the ceiling. 

Steven’s room felt like an extension of him, Amethyst noted. It was bright, and kind, and full of stuffed toys and silly pictures. The walls were a soft white with a vivid blue stripe near the middle of the wall that continued around the perimeter of the room. Steven’s bed was placed against one wall, and there was a large bay window on the other; its sill was littered with action figures, knick knacks similar to the ones Bismuth had shown him earlier, and photos of Garnet, Ruby, Sapphire, and Pearl. The room itself wasn’t very large, with just enough room for a dresser and a bookshelf in addition to his bed. 

“This is pretty neat.” Amethyst said, her eyes following the many family pictures on the walls. 

“I know. I love it in here- mostly because it’s got all my favorite stuff in it. Like this is my Explorer Gal,” he pointed to one of the knick knacks on the shelf above his head, “and this is a cool rock I found when Garnet and I went camping, and this is a little figurine that my mom painted for me when I was a baby.” He was silent for a moment, before continuing, “Anyways… wanna see the very last room on the tour?” He sat up quickly, his excitement almost palpable. 

“Wow. We’ve really seen the whole place now?” Amethyst said, turning back to face Steven. 

“Well, all of the inside, yeah! Except for inside the guests rooms and inside mom’s room and inside Garnet’s and okay… Maybe not all of it, haha. But there is one last cool stop!”

Amethyst shrugged, smiling, “Let’s do this, then. Take it away, man.” 

They exited back into the alcove, and instead of turning back the way they came like she had expected, Steven moved to the door he’d skipped earlier. 

“This is my favorite place in the whole house!” He opened the door, slowly as though for dramatic effect, and Amethyst snickered behind her hand. He was trying so hard to make a scene, but she could tell he really just wanted to open the door. 

Once the door was open, she was frankly… underwhelmed. “I don’t get it.” She craned her neck to see further into the room. “I like couches too, I guess.” 

“No, Amethyst!” Steven cried, walking inside, “It’s my movie room! Slash study room, slash game room, slash whatever I want, really.” 

“That’s neat.” Amethyst said with a nod. 

“It’s the best place in the whole house, because I can do whatever I want in it!” Steven smiled. “And we can watch a movie tonight, which is really lucky. Mom never lets me watch movies if I don’t get my school work done.” 

“Nice! What movie do you wanna watch then?” Amethyst plopped down onto the center cushion of the larger couch, kicking her shoes off before setting her feet up on the ottoman. 

“Oh gosh, I have so many choices. We can watch Lonely Blade, or any of the DogCopter movies, or I even have some old cartoons if movies aren’t your speed.” Steven’s head was almost all the way inside the cabinet on the entertainment center, as he rummaged around inside. “I have tons more, let me find some good ones!” 

“Lonely Blade’s fine,” Amethyst said. She picked at her nail, “Isn’t that what you wanted to watch anyways?” 

“Have you ever seen it before?”

“Well, duh, everyone’s seen Lonely Blade,” her laugh was loud but wasn’t abrasive, and Steven looked over his shoulder at her to smile. Eventually, he pulled the disc out and showed it to her proudly. 

“But has everyone seen the… Lonely Blade Collector’s Edition?” He bragged, pointing to the decal on the disc. “I highly doubt that.”

“Then let’s get it on, man! We gotta get this party started before you have to go to bed. What’s your bedtime, like 7:00?” 

“Very funny, Amethyst.” As the DVD player began to whir, he came and sat by her side, pulling a blanket out from the basket next to the couch. “I’ll have you know, now that I’m eleven, I usually go to bed at 9:00.

“Ooh, we’ve got a bad boy in the house. We might be up ‘til 9:30 tonight!” 

As the movie started, Amethyst’s mind began to wander. Yesterday, she’d had dinner from Taco Hut: two potato tacos and a pile of greasy fries, alone. She’d charged her phone in a coffee shop and watched bad Tubetube videos, alone. She’d pulled the van over, gotten out, and laid down on the dark sand that had been littered with beach debris, and fallen asleep there at two in the morning. All alone. 

Now that she’d spent the day with people, talking to them and eating dinner with them and fighting with them, the reality of it all came crashing down. She was so alone. She’d staged this whole run away to get her family to realize how much they’d miss her, how irreplaceable she was. Instead, she’d proved the opposite true. She felt more alone than ever before, knowing that they didn’t care where she was or what she was doing. And now… Now she’d seen how the other half lived. Steven’s little make-shift family may not have have been nuclear but they felt stronger than her family had ever been. They were all stronger together. It had to be some kind of punishment, going so long without that, getting just a taste, and having it all ripped away. Going to sleep in the van would be colder than normal tonight. 

At some point, she had pulled the throw pillow out from behind her and clutched it into her stomach. She was careful to respond with appropriate enthusiasm when Steven oohed and aahed at the movie, but she could feel herself closing in around the pillow’s rough cover. Around the time of the first big battle, the door opened unceremoniously, and Garnet sat down heavily on a bean bag. 

“Garnet! You made it!” Steven cried, “You’re just in time for the first battle, let me fill you in-”

She held up one hand, smiling towards him, “No need, I’ve seen this one.” 

Amethyst was grateful to have been snapped out of her downward spiral, choosing now to focus on the movie. Specific attention to each sword thrust and every lightning strike. Not focusing on how quickly Pearl and Sapphire had gone looking for Steven. Observing the setting for the battle, noticing the dramatic music in the background. Trying to ignore how effortless conversation at dinner had been. 

Eventually she had given herself a slight headache with how closely she was paying attention. Her eyes strained against the flashing lights in the dark room, as they cast color over the walls. Until suddenly the room wasn’t quite as dark, and she could see Ruby’s head silhouetted in the doorway. 

“Room for two more?” she asked, raising her and Sapphire’s intertwined hands just slightly.

“There’s always room for Ruby,” Steven laughed, “and where there’s Ruby, there’s Sapphire!” 

Sapphire giggled, pressing a kiss to Ruby’s temple in the doorway. They hurried in, careful to close the door before crossing in front of Garnet in her bean bag. There was a small loveseat on the far wall, and Sapphire sat down first, angling her body towards the television. Ruby slid back between her legs and leaned softly against her chest. “Thank you, Steven.” Sapphire whispered. 

“Where’s mom?” He said, “It’s not a real slumber party ‘til everyone’s here.” 

“She’ll be up soon.” Garnet said, not looking away from the movie. “Then, we’ll get this party started.” 

As if waiting for her cue, Pearl then opened the door just a crack and slid into the doorway. “Sorry I’m late. I had forgotten to grab the laundry off the line earlier. I wanted to bring it inside before it started to rain.” 

Amethyst smiled at Steven, who let out a whispered, “Woot-woot! Party time, y’all!’ 

“Is it alright if I sit here?” Pearl was gesturing to the only non-floor spot left in the room, the spot next to Amethyst on the bigger couch. 

“Oh, uh… I guess. I mean, this is your couch. Do whatever you want.” Amethyst scooted a little closer to the Steven, making more room for Pearl next to her. Pearl sat and quickly curled her small legs underneath her body. What was strange, Amethyst noted, was that even on the couch her posture was rigid. “Do you want like a pillow or something?” She said quietly, holding up the throw pillow she had been hugging. 

“That’s alright, Amethyst. Thank you, though.” 

“Heh… no prob, Bob.”

Pearl didn’t respond, choosing instead to raise an eyebrow, before turning to watch the movie.

No one talked too much while the movie was playing. Garnet and Sapphire could have been asleep for how much they contributed to the discussion, but Ruby and Pearl would occasionally gripe about factual inaccuracies or continuity errors. Steven piped in from time to time, trying to remind them that, “this is a movie!” and “not everything’s gotta be perfect, it’s just gotta be cool!” 

Towards the climax of the film, Amethyst finally found herself engaged in the story. She leaned forward, hunching over the pillow. Sure, she’d seen this movie plenty of times before, but there was something so gripping about it! That is, until Steven jumped up and ran to the window near where Ruby and Sapphire were sitting. 

“Uh oh, Amethyst…” he said, trying to control his delight. 

“Dude, the movie’s almost over, come sit down!” 

In a sing-song voice he added, “But it’s rain-ing!” 

Garnet, who somehow had gotten the remote over the course of the movie, paused it, “Just like you said.” She turned to grin at Sapphire, who held a semi-conscious Ruby against her chest. 

Sapphire pursed her lips, “I didn’t predict the weather, dear. I watched the news this morning.” 

“Well, it was certainly good that you told us!” Pearl chimed in, “It would’ve been _ such _a pain to rewash all those bedsheets. And who knows whether any of them would’ve blown away?” 

Amethyst stood, walking over to where Steven had his nose pressed against the window. Outside the window, she could see the trees barely lit in the moonlight rustling. “What does it matter if it’s raining, man? We were at the best part of the movie.” She pulled gently at his shoulders, trying to guide him back to the couch.

He didn’t even try to hide his glee, tilting his head up to look at Amethyst, “Well… it looks like you’ll have to stay here tonight! The weather is too bad for you to go anywhere… I suppose our slumber party will have no choice but to continue all night long.” 

“Steven," she deadpanned, "It’s sprinkling.” Behind her, Ruby had stirred in Sapphire’s arms, spreading out her limbs in a tight stretch. 

“Wait a minute, where _ are _ you staying tonight, Amethyst?” She asked, yawning mid-sentence.

“Um.. same place I usually sleep, I guess.” She shrugged, “Probably my van. Sometimes if it’s cold or I haven’t showered in a couple of days, I’ll stop at a motel or something.”

“We’re a motel!” Steven’s eyes were wide at the possibilities he had dancing through his mind.

“Not really.” Garnet said, chuckling. 

“Well… why not?” 

“We don’t have bedbugs, for one,” Pearl said, rolling her eyes. “Our inn is much nicer than a motel, Steven. We’re not that gross.” She grimaced, realizing what she had said. “Ah… no offense, Amethyst.” 

She shrugged good naturedly, “Eh, it’s whatever, you’re not wrong. The last motel I stayed at was this place, in Ocean Town, and when I got to my room, I found boogers. _ On the wall! _”

“I can assure you, that would never happen here.” Pearl looked queasy at the thought of the dirty motel wall, “I wouldn’t let it, for starters.” 

“What did you do?” Steven asked Amethyst, wide eyed and slack jawed.

“I obviously added my own to the collection.”

“Amethyst!” Pearl screeched, “That’s disgusting!” 

“Re_ lax _, Pearl! I’m kidding.” Amethyst said. She held a hand to her mouth and leaned down towards Steven slightly, “I’m mostly kidding.” 

“I can hear you!” Pearl groaned audibly before adding, “I have to believe you weren’t being serious.” Amethyst shrugged in response. 

“Well…” Steven said, drawing out the word with a lengthy pause, “Either way. It’ll probably get pretty cold tonight.” 

“You know, we do have a room or two open since it’s a weeknight.” Sapphire said, looking down at Ruby in her arms. 

“She’s right, Amethyst,” Ruby looked serious despite her sleepy eyes, “Why don’t you just stay here tonight?” 

“I mean... I love a comfy bed as much as the next girl, but I’ve definitely overstayed my welcome.” 

“Nonsense, you only just got here,” Sapphire said, “After all you’ve been through, I think we can all agree that you deserve a warm _ clean _bed for once.” 

“Yeah, but that’s like… your source of income, I’m not gonna mess with that.” 

“But she just said we have empty rooms…” Steven echoed, his forehead scrunched. “Nobody’s gonna be checking in this late on a Wednesday.”

“That’s not the point, man. Really, I’m fine in the van!” Amethyst rolled her eyes.

“Yes, but you need better than fine.” Garnet chimed in.

“It’s just one more room for you to clean.”

“I clean all the rooms everyday anyways,” Pearl said, “it makes no difference whether you spend one night.”

“No, you guys don’t get it. I’m a stranger. You invited me into your home, after I basically stalked your son and then made him run away-” 

“You didn’t make me do anything,” Steven interjected.

“It was bound to happen eventually,” Garnet added, resting her chin on her fist.

“Garnet! What’s that supposed to mean?” Pearl cried, “He wasn’t _ bound _to run away.”

Steven blinked, wide-eyed, “Maybe I’m having a mid-life crisis.”

“Don’t worry, you’ll live to be much older than 22.” Sapphire said, “Though I suppose this could be a quarter life crisis…”

“You already fed me lunch _ and _dinner-” Amethyst tried to continue.

“You act like we weren’t going to eat anyways,” Ruby scoffed, “They weren’t kidding, I always make more food than we need!”

“You don’t know me!” Amethyst’s outburst was sharp and loud and shattered a tense silence into the room. “I don’t get it. I just don’t understand. Why are you being so nice to me? Do you do this for every loser Steven drags home?”

“Amethyst. Stop.” She froze, feeling her ragged nails digging into her palms and all the eyes in the room on her. She was so paralyzed by the shock of her sudden emotional fit that she wasn’t sure who had called her name. She wasn’t even sure if _ anyone _ had called her name.

“I… I need to go.” Her eyes darted across their faces, seeing concern, surprise, bewilderment… fear. She moved to leave, stepping in front of the tv and towards the door, aiming to make a run for it. Until she felt something tugging at the edge of her shirt.

“Steven, really, I need to go,” tears began to well in her eyes, “You have to let me go!”

He tugged a little harder, turning her slightly towards him. His tiny hands moved to wrap around her wrist. “You don’t need to go anywhere. It’s okay, remember? We _ want _you to stay.”

“He’s right, Amethyst.” She looked up to see Pearl, uncurling her legs from beneath her, “I know we got off on the wrong foot this morning, and I’m sorry. But, as strange as it may seem, we’re not exactly strangers anymore.” Pearl didn’t make eye contact and her voice was distant.

“After what you did for us, bringing back Steven and helping us understand him better,” Garnet spoke up, “You need to know that it’s okay to treat yourself with respect.” 

Steven pulled back from Amethyst, who had managed to slow her breathing slightly. “So, will you pretty please stay the night? We could have a lot of fun.”

Her head dropped, and her hair fell heavy over her face. No one broke the din of the tv’s quiet buzzing.

Quietly, she gave in, “Fine. We’ll compromise.” Amethyst folded her arms over her chest and blew a section of hair out of her eyes.

Steven gave a restrained cheer as she finally looked up at him.

“I’ll stay, but I’m paying and I’m only doing it because I… I really need a good night’s sleep.” 

“I’m not trying to be callous, but… can you afford to pay?” Pearl said.

Sapphire finished her thought for her, “We’re quite happy to just let you stay the night, at no cost to you-”

“My parents are stupid rich, remember? They haven’t cut me off yet, I doubt this would be the final straw.”

“That settles it,” Garnet says, gesturing around, “Welcome to the slumber party.”


	7. Don't Let the Loneliness Bite

Once Steven and Amethyst had settled themselves back on the couch, they all managed to finish Lonely Blade without any further interruptions. Steven, instead of taking his old seat on Amethyst’s left side, had cuddled himself between her and Pearl. 

“Sorry dude, I can scoot over,” Amethyst had said, as he pulled his blanket over his legs. 

“No, no, don’t worry about it! This way we’re all comfy cozy.” 

Amethyst’s wide eyes looked up over his head of curly hair, meeting Pearl’s bemused gaze. She could see Pearl give her a small shrug, before turning her focus back to the screen. Uncomfortably, Amethyst did the same. Before too long, the movie was over, and Ruby was picking up a sleeping Sapphire from her place on the couch. 

“Steven,” Pearl said firmly, “Why don’t you go brush your teeth? We’ll be in to say goodnight as soon as we get everything put away here.” 

In a true testament to how late in the evening it had become, Steven said nothing, but just slid down off the couch with a nod and a yawn before heading to the bathroom. Sometime between Ruby’s careful extraction of Sapphire and Steven’s leisurely exit, Garnet had left the room as well. Running a hand through her hair, Pearl turned to face Amethyst on the couch. 

“I know this is all very unorthodox, but…” Pearl paused gesturing vaguely with her pale hands, “I guess we really are lucky you stopped by today. Thanks again.”

“Whatever. You’ve thanked me plenty,” Amethyst felt her face heat and she looked away from the strong gaze, “I should be thanking you. It was really awesome spending the day with everyone. I still don’t really understand why you’re all letting me stay but it means a lot, y’know?” 

“I do know. More than you can imagine.” Pearl’s voice dropped, and Amethyst looked up in an attempt to meet her eyes. Pearl, however, was looking up at the ceiling, her hands clasped in her lap. She looked _ so _ unbelievably sad that Amethyst almost felt her own eyes tearing up again. After a long pregnant pause, Pearl turned to meet her eyes. “Sorry. I shouldn’t unpack my drama on you. It’s a long story.” 

Her wry laugh twisted in the air between them, somehow pulling Amethyst ever so slightly closer to her. 

“If you like, I don’t know, need someone to just.... listen…” Amethyst’s hands wrung around themselves in her lap, “I could do that. If you wanted.” 

Pearl grimaced, a tight painful smile. “I appreciate that, Amethyst. Maybe another time. For now, we’ve got to get Steven to sleep, it’s well past his regularly scheduled bedtime.” She stood carefully from the couch and held her arm out towards Amethyst.

Pearl’s hand was cold and thin and Amethyst felt like if she held it up to the light, she would’ve been able to see each of the tiny blood vessels in her fingers. But, they were also strong- not the kind of thin that felt like a toothpick. Amethyst’s own hands felt protected in hers, and she instinctively wanted to yank them away in confusion at the feeling. Instead, she allowed Pearl to pull her up from the couch and into a tentative and painfully awkward hug. 

Her breathing stopped for a moment, and her brows raised at the unexpected contact. Pearl’s arms had wrapped lightly around her shoulders, and Amethyst’s just hovered in the air. When was the last time someone had hugged her? When was the last time that someone else had initiated any sort of physical intimacy with her ? Like a dam breaking, Amethyst’s arms fell around Pearl and she returned the hug with enough force to squeeze a surprised laugh out of her. 

They stayed like that for a moment: Pearl leaning to rest her head slightly on Amethyst’s hair, Amethyst with her face buried deep into Pearl’s shoulder, neither saying a word. Pearl let one hand brush slowly down Amethyst’s hair. 

“Mom!” Steven called from the brightly lit hallway. “I’m ready for bed!” 

Pearl raised her head gently, “Thank you Steven, I’ll be right there,” she called out. She looked carefully at Amethyst, who had pulled away from the embrace and wrapped herself up in her own arms. She was looking down at the floor, overwhelmed by what had come over her, what had possessed her to fall so completely into Pearl’s hug. 

Pearl rubbed the back of her neck, seemingly embarrassed by the affection after the call back to reality. “Would you want to help Garnet and I put him to bed? I’m sure he’ll want to say goodnight to you.” 

“Um… sure. I guess.” 

After the Lonely Blade disc had been put back in its case and the blanket folded and put away, they headed out towards the other rooms. In the hallway, Steven was hanging on Garnet’s back, his arms around her neck. “-but I think I’ll buy the 4th book next, once I get my allowance. What do you think?” 

“I think... it’s time for bed.” Garnet mused, gesturing towards where Pearl and Amethyst were. Steven nodded into her dark hair, and she wordlessly carried him into his room and set him on his bed. 

Pearl moved to follow, but despite her earlier invitation, Amethyst didn’t. She just stood awkwardly outside of the room. Should she go in? Should she wait here? Should she make a break for it while Steven’s occupied and can’t stop her from leaving? 

“Come on, Amethyst.” Garnet’s voice cut through her anxieties from inside the bedroom. Settled on the bed, Pearl began to sing a soft lullaby as she ran a hand through Steven’s hair. 

For a moment, after the melody had ended, no one said anything. Amethyst fought the urge to hang her head, to give into the voice in her head telling her that she was crazy to be here. 

Garnet spoke first, leaning against the dresser facing the bed, “Alright. It’s time your story, Steven.” 

“Where did we even leave off last night?” Pearl asked, “Last I remember, the knights were…”

“Oh! The knights were leaving the arena after the first battle, and they had just found the sword of wisdom!” His excited interruption didn’t faze Pearl, who nodded happily.

“Yes, the sword of wisdom.” Garnet paused, allowing for dramatic effect, “The only sword with the power to unlock the sacred temple that’s been locked for the last one thousand years.” 

Steven rolled onto his side, staring with rapt attention at Garnet. “This is gonna be so good!” He whispered giddily. 

Pearl moved to the side just slightly, as if opening up a spot for Amethyst. Amethyst didn’t move though, caught off guard by the offer. She almost felt like checking behind her shoulder for Ruby or Sapphire, or whoever Pearl must have really been waiting for. Garnet continued her story while Pearl walked to where she stood in the doorway. 

Her voice was barely audible, “Come sit and listen, it won’t be long. Then you can say goodnight to Steven.” Their eyes remained locked on each other’s, the uncertainty in Amethyst’s matched in Pearl’s. Unable to resist, Amethyst ended up sitting next to her, as Garnet told her story. 

“...but before they could get to the other side of the moat, the wizard cut the rope holding up the bridge.” 

Steven gasped, “And then what? Did they fall?” 

“You’ll have to wait until tomorrow night to find out,” Garnet said after a moment, “for now, it’s time for us to let you sleep.”

“Ah man, it was just getting good too.” Steven huffed, then tried to turn to Pearl for help, “Please, mom, just a little longer?” 

“It’s been good since the beginning, thank you very much,” Garnet’s voice held only the smallest hint of feigned irritation. 

“But-” 

Amethyst scoffed, “Dude. You got to watch a movie, hear a sick bedtime story _ and _a lullaby, have tons of awesome dessert, and hang out with me all day! I think you have to save at least a little cool stuff for tomorrow, so it doesn’t totally suck.” 

“She has a point, honey. I don’t normally let you watch a movie on a weeknight. I think you’ve had enough excitement for one day.” 

“Fine…” Steven said, stretching the word into multiple syllables, “it’s just gonna be so hard to wait!”

“If anyone can manage, it will be you.” 

“What do you say to Garnet?” Pearl probed as she stood. 

“I love you!” A yawn cut off the end of his sentence, and his legs stretched out, nearly kicking Amethyst where she sat. 

Garnet smiled and Pearl chuckled, “What else?” 

“Thanks for the story…” Steven was clearly fighting to stay awake, and Amethyst stood up to get out of his space. “G’night, mom… G’night Garnet. Amethyst... I’ll see you in the morning, promise?”

His small hand reached out towards her, pinky extended. Playfully rolling her eyes, she wrapped her pinky around his. “Yeah, yeah. I promise Ste-man. Thanks for being awesome.” 

“I love you guys.” 

Pearl leaned down to place a kiss on his forehead. “Sweet dreams, Steven. We’ll see you in the morning.” 

Amethyst left first, with Pearl and Garnet following her out into the hallway. Before she shut the door completely, Garnet turned, “Oh, Steven! There’s one last thing I needed to tell you.” 

His small eyes opened and he tilted up to look at them in the doorway. “Whassit?” He slurred softly. 

“I love you.” Garnet winked at him before closing the door softly behind her. 

“I’m exhausted. You both should be getting to bed soon.” 

Garnet gave Pearl a quick hug, then set a heavy hand on Amethyst’s shoulder. She felt warm and solid and even from just the touch of her hand, Amethyst could tell she was being genuine. “It was great meetin you, Amethyst. I’ll see you both in the morning.” 

Once she disappeared behind her door, Pearl turned to Amethyst. Her eyes seemed gentle and vacant, a pale glassy blue. “Well… Amethyst. Let’s go get you a room.” 

Amethyst was barely able to open her mouth before Pearl cut her off, “And don’t try to back out of it now.” 

She followed Pearl down to the front foyer, where they had been just a few hours prior. The halls of the inn were quiet and floor was cold underneath her sock covered feet. When they got downstairs, they found Ruby behind the partition. 

“Oh! Ruby! I thought you’d gone to bed?” Pearl asked quietly. 

“Not yet. I put Sapph to bed, but I’ve still gotta close up shop… lock the doors and stuff, you know? I did grab a key for Amethyst already, so that’s all set up.” She handed Pearl a keyring with a puff ball attached to it. The charm was neon green with two little googly eyes glued to one side. 

“Uh… did Steven make that?” Amethyst was surprised by the sound of her own voice, jarring in the quiet of the empty main floor. 

“Hmm? The charms?” Pearl dangled the little neon fuzz in the air, “He did make this, good eye. He made a whole slew of silly charms to place on the keys. Initially, we put them on just to humor him, but guests seem to really like them.”

“And we’ve cut way down on the number of lost keys since then too!” Ruby said. Amethyst couldn’t see her, she’d kneeled down behind the partition, but she could imagine her satisfied smile anyways. 

“That’s cool.” 

“It certainly is cute, at the very least,” Pearl gestured back towards the stairs, “Now, let’s get you to bed.” 

“Aye-aye, cap’n,” Amethyst waved good-bye to Ruby before following Pearl towards the stairs. 

“Did you need anything from your van? I completely forgot to ask.”

“Heh, no, there’s like, nothing useful in there… I’ll be fine.” 

“Are you sure? You don’t even want to grab a change of clothes? 

Amethyst grimaced. Life on the run hadn’t warranted many possessions. While she certainly had the money for pajamas or fancy sleep gear, it wasn’t sensible in the cramped and cluttered quarters of the van. “Really, Pearl, I don’t have that much stuff to begin with. And I’m _ so _tired that I’d be able to sleep in a potato sack if you asked me to. Jeans and a tank top will be a walk in the park.” 

“Whatever you say,” Pearl relented. 

Eventually, they made it to Amethyst’s home away from home away from home, and Pearl unlocked the door. “I’d give you a tour,” she began, “but it’s a fairly standard room. Ruby will probably have breakfast ready by eight or so… Is there anything else you need?”

Amethyst flopped face first onto the beige duvet, groaning as her body slid back towards the edge. She rolled over, spread her arms wide, and sighed. This was going to take no getting used to. “This is great, P, thanks for hooking me up with a warm bed.”

“Anytime. Really,” She turned and fiddled with the hem of her shirt, “I’ll see you in the morning. I hope you sleep well.”

“You too,” Amethyst groans, “See ya then.” 

After Pearl closed the door, Amethyst worried that she was about to cry. That she was going to breakdown, right there, in this better-than-a-motel room, because it’s all too much. The running away, the dinner, the movie night, the freaking bedtime stories. None of it made any sense to her. She was almost angry at them; who did they think they were? Offering up a room to a total stranger? Making her feel wanted for once, only to remember it would all be gone by morning? 

Before she lost control completely, she flipped the lights off and pushed the covers down. Her phone ended up set on the nightstand next to her, long dead, and she slid into bed. No matter how much she tried, she couldn’t get comfortable, tossing and turning under the heavy suffocating heat of the blankets. Eventually, she kicked them to the ground, and fell into a deep, unforgiving sleep.


	8. Wake Me Up Inside

Maybe she’d expected chirping birds or bright rays of light to wake her up. Or maybe she’d expected Steven rushing in and jumping on her stomach like in a cartoon. Whatever she’d expected… it hadn’t been this. It hadn’t been silence, thick air, an unsettling stillness. It hadn’t been loneliness. The blankets were still crumpled on the floor. Her pillow was covered in drool. Her face was clammy and one arm was red with wrinkles from the sheets. She’d been hit by a semi-truck for all she knew. 

The room that Pearl had led her to the night before was bigger than Amethyst had realized. There was a beige couch against the far wall, set underneath a nondescript painting of a lake. An older TV set on top of a dresser, a floor lamp next to the window, other things she could care less about. The room was nice, that was all that mattered. Pearl had been right- the room had been bug free, much cleaner than the motels she’d stayed in since she left home. 

Her feet, only one still sporting the ratty sock, were rough against the plush carpet beneath her, and she stood, stretching painfully while her vision blackened momentarily.  _ Where do I go from here?  _ She thought. As tempting as it was, she couldn’t stay holed up in here all day. She had to face the music. She also had to figure out what time it was. Without a hairbrush, a change of clothes, or any toiletries at all, there wasn’t much she could do about her appearance. Regardless, she stumbled into the bathroom and faced her reflection in the mirror. Or rather, she avoided eye contact with her puffy faced emotional counterpart.

The cold water she splashed on her face helped, although not much. Steeling herself, she stepped out into the hallway, unprepared for what she might find out there. The hall was unexpectedly empty, but she was grateful for the for the faint noise she could hear floating up from the main level. At the bottom of the stairs, she paused. Were they all eating breakfast in there? What would she do? What would she say? This was so unlike her, this waffling and indecision, all the what ifs. It was like her months of traveling had turned her into a different person. A scared, nervous person. 

She didn’t get the chance to make her entrance before Bismuth, the woman Steven had introduced her to at the table yesterday, came around the corner. She let out a startled noise in surprise. 

Bismuth just smiled widely at her, “Beach buddy! How’s it goin’? I didn’t realize you were sticking around!” 

Amethyst shrugged, running a hand through her tangled hair, “I didn’t either, honestly.” She couldn’t meet Bismuth’s eyes, looking instead at the large, but simple tattoos on her arm. 

“Well, it’s good to see you again. Everyone else is still working on breakfast. Why don’t you head in? Ruby’s sure to have saved you a bite.” Bismuth stepped around her and moved up the stairs.   


It was really happening now. She was going to go in there. She could handle a plain old breakfast, right? This was no different than every stupid fancy dinner she’d attended for her parents, every boring brunch and awful charity gala. She could do this. 

Taking a deep breath, she steeled her nerves until… she realized. This was  _ nothing  _ like those events. These people weren’t donors. They didn’t carry the vote. They didn’t have a stake in some stupid company. And she would probably never see them again. She could be herself then, couldn’t she? Without worrying about what her father would say behind closed doors after she criticized the wrong policy. Or that her sisters would laugh and ignore her for days after she embarrassed herself publicly. There were no lasting consequences to what she did right here, right now. 

Freed from the conformity she dreaded, she exhaled and turned into the dining room. The tables were half full, people milling about, most eating and chatting quietly. It was just like she’d seen yesterday, but now she saw faces she recognized in the crowd.

“Amethyst! I saved you a seat between me and Garnet,” Steven motioned towards an empty chair, and she saw Garnet nod. Before she could lose the burst of courage she’d gotten in the hall, she hurried over to sit between them. 

“I’ll go let Ruby know you made it,” Pearl said, standing carefully. “She saved you a cinnamon roll and some hash browns. We weren’t sure what you’d like but…”

“No, that’s great. I’ll eat anything, really.” She watched as Pearl walked away, waiting for Steven to break the silence she left behind. 

“How’d you sleep?” Steven asked, between bites of breakfast. His plate was piled high with a mix of both waffles and pancakes, covered in streams of sticky multicolored syrups. Amethyst wasn't sure but she felt like she could see pieces of colorful candy suspended in the goo. 

“Like a rock. I totally passed out,” Amethyst frowned, “But it was definitely better than the booger motel.” 

“No talking about boogers at the table, Amethyst.” Pearl had returned with a large plate of food that she set in front of Amethyst. She’d smiled as she said it, but Amethyst still felt a hit of embarrassment in her gut. 

“Right. Sorry.”

“So, what are your plans for the day?” Pearl asked, sitting back in her seat. She sipped quietly from a novelty mug that said ‘World’s Best Earl.’

Amethyst stopped herself from answering mid-bite. She swallowed and shrugged, “Idunno. Get back on the road, I guess?” 

“No,” Steven whined with his mouth full, “You just got here! You can’t leave yet.” 

“What?” Amethyst asked, perplexed. “Dude, I…” She considered trying to explain it all to Steven: how weird it was to invite a stranger to your home, how she had never meant to stay and eat dinner and watch a movie, how she’d been here so much longer than anyone expected. But… she knew it was no use. 

Pearl paused, raising an eyebrow, “He has a point. Sure, you didn’t intend to stay in the first place, but if you have the funds… why wouldn’t you stay for a little while longer?”

Amethyst let out a derisive snort, “What would I even do here? Sit around and… knit ponchos all day?” 

“If you don’t know how to knit, we can start you on a scarf,” Garnet joked. Amethyst rolled her eyes, then took a large bite of her cinnamon roll, unsure of how to respond. 

“Mom and I are probably doing a puzzle later,” Steven offered, looking over at Pearl, “It's her turn to pick, so it'll be a really complicated one, with lots of pieces. We could use the help!”

Amethyst grimaced, trying to convey regret she didn’t really feel, “Ahh... It’s gonna be a no from me. Puzzles aren’t really my speed.” 

“Okay, well, what would you normally be doing?” He asked.

“Before or after I moved into my van?”

“Hmm… before.”

She thought back to the months she’d spent holed up in her room before finally she left. Normally, she’d be at least 4 hours deep in a Lil' Butler binge right about now. Until she had realized just how awful everything really was, she’d given up on trying to do anything. Most days she lazed around, feeling sorry for herself and trying not to get sick after her fifth family sized bag of bbq chips. 

“Nothing.” She shrugged, avoiding his eyes. 

“Surely that’s an exaggeration,” Pearl probed, “Didn’t you go to school or something?”

“Nope.” She popped the ‘p’ like bubble gum, daring Pearl to follow that line of questioning.

Steven hummed his confusion, “So... you’ve never been to school either?”

“What?" Amethyst laughed, "No, I went to school, I just graduated already.” She scrunched up her nose, as a bite of hash browns nearly went down the wrong tube. 

“Oh, I just thought maybe you’d been homeschooled too.”

“Ha! No. I would’ve rather eaten motor oil than be homeschooled. My parents weren’t nearly as cool as yours.” She gave a hint of a teasing smile to Pearl, who smiled into her mug before averting her eyes. 

“Anyways… It’s really cool of you guys to offer, but I don’t really…” She grumbled, unsure of how to finish her sentence. 

“We already told you, we’d love to have you,” Garnet reminded flatly.

“It’s not that. I just don’t… see the point?” She picked idly at her chipped nail polish, trying to find the missing words and avoiding Steven’s inquiring eyes. “Like, you’re great and all but I don’t really know you any of you.”

“That’s not true anymore,” Steven said, his frustration growing at Amethyst’s stubbornness. 

“Well, still! We just met. I’m really confused. Why is this offer even on the table? I was thinking about that all night: why is this even an option?”   


“What do you mean?” Steven was quickly becoming lost in Amethyst’s circular train of thought.    


“I mean… okay, see, I’ve come up with two theories: One, you do this with every stranger Steven drags home, or two: you’re planning to kill me, cook me, and eat me.”

“Amethyst! That’s disgusting!” Pearl admonished.

“What’s disgusting?” Ruby piped up, walking towards them with her own heaping plate of food. Sapphire is close behind holding two drinks. They pulled two nearby chairs up to the surprisingly still roomy table.

“Amethyst thinks we’re gonna kill her and eat her,” Steven said. 

“Heh, Sapph and I were worried it was gonna be the other way around.” Ruby gave Amethyst an exaggerated wink as she nudged her in the side with her elbow. 

“She’s joking, of course.” Sapphire said, looking at Ruby with a smile so dopey that Amethyst was just waiting for Pearl to tell them  _ they _ couldn’t be gross at the table either. 

“You missed the third reason.” Garnet said, attempting to bring the group’s focus back to the topic at hand. 

“Which is?”    


“The possibility that we got to know you, and now we think you’re cool.” 

That possibility had never crossed Amethyst's mind. 

She stuffed a bite of food into her mouth and mumbled over it, “...whatever.”

“So, you’ll stay and hang out for a while?” Amethyst didn’t miss the hope in Steven’s eyes.

She huffed and rolled her eyes. There was really no winning with this kid. He was too persistent. “I mean… I can think about it.”

“Well, while you think about it, why don’t you spend the day with us?” Ruby said, smiling. Her excitement was contagious, and Amethyst found herself seriously considering the offer.

“Doing what?” She asked.   


“Whatever you want!” Steven answered, “I could show you around town or we could go to the beach or we could…” He tapered off, trying to sift through his ideas. 

“Worst case, we put ya to work!” Ruby added, clapping a hand on Amethyst’s back. 

Amethyst weighed her options. What would she be doing right now if Steven  _ hadn’t  _ found her yesterday? A month ago, she would’ve been bright eyed and optimistic: eager to adventure and anxious for the frantic calls from her parents. Over time though, that had all faded into something bitter. She began to realize that in her parent’s eyes, she might as well be dead in a ditch. If she wasn’t here, eating breakfast after waking up in a warm bed… She’d be eating stale leftovers after waking up alone in her cold van, with nothing to do other than drive further north and do it all over again. 

Her alternatives to staying here at the inn were starting to sound more and more bleak by the minute. She could give up, head home, pretend none of this had ever happened, and try to act like everything in her life was just fine and dandy. Or: she could go back to Plan A, drive further north, pretend she had an end in mind, and try to convince herself that her family cared. 

Or. 

She could stay. 

_ God, this is stupid. Stay for how long? Stay and get attached and leave alone anyways?  _ The cynic in her protested. 

A smaller part shot back:  _ What does it matter? Take it one day at a time. You didn’t know how running away was going to turn out. What’s stopping you now?  _

“We all deserve a break. I think we should take a beach day today.” Sapphire’s patient offer broke Amethyst out of the hole he had been quickly digging herself into.

Ruby stood, “Yes! Great idea, Sapph, I’ll go make some sandwiches.”

Pearl lowered her mug and looked apologetically up at Ruby and Sapphire. “Hmm… I haven’t even started on the rooms yet, I might have to sit this one out.” She pushed a piece of hair behind her ear and tried to laugh quietly at Steven's silent pleading.

“Not if we get started now,” Garnet said, “I’ll help, let’s go.” She took the saucer that Pearl had used and set it on top of her own plate. She stood, reaching a hand out to Pearl and pulling her to her feet. 

"It would be nice to have some help, I suppose." Pearl relented.  Amethyst watched as they walked into the kitchen, listening as Pearl strategized her normal cleaning routine.

“I’ll go pack the essentials,” Sapphire added, taking Ruby’s hand and following them out. 

Alone at the table, Steven giggled wide-eyed at Amethyst. “Beach day!” He cried.

Pearl stepped back into the dining room at his exclamation, “Steven, we can’t miss your studies two days in a row. We can go to the beach today, but you need to go do as much work as possible, or you’ll have to stay behind to catch up.” 

He gave her a serious nod, “On it!” 

Amethyst was the only one left at the table now. Everyone’s sudden departures of everyone had left her in a stunned silence. Everything had been decided so quickly just then. Was she supposed to be doing something now? Was she… invited to the beach with them? 

Ruby and Sapphire came back into the room, one right after the other. 

“Hey, Amethyst! What kind of sandwich did you want?” Ruby asked, “We’ve got ham, turkey, peanut butter, roast beef....” 

Logically, she knew Ruby was talking to her. The only Amethyst in the room. But she was caught off guard by the casualness of it all, as though she went to the beach with them every weekend. “Oh. Um. Surprise me?” 

Behind Ruby, Sapphire spoke up, “Since you surf- you already have the necessary attire, I assume?” 

“Like… my swimsuit?” Sapphire nodded once, “Yeah, I’ve got one.”

Ruby smiled before following Sapphire back into the other room. Before she could really be alone again, Steven was back, rushing towards her seat at the table. 

“Sorry Amethyst!” He chuckled, obviously embarrassed. “I got a little caught up in the moment.” He was slightly out of breath, “All this packing and cleaning stuff won’t take long. Then we can get going, I promise” 

She didn’t respond before he turned to leave again, but didn’t get far. “Oh, gosh! I’m sorry… We didn’t even ask if you wanted to come with us! We all just assumed.” 

“Well, you know what they say about assuming… heh.” She scratched the back of her head, avoiding his apologetic stare. 

“No… I don’t think I do. What do they say?” 

“Ah… nothing.” She narrowed her eyes, frustrated that she’d almost said something so crass. “But... sure. I’ll come to the beach with everybody. Why the heck not? I could get out my surfboard and everything.” 

This was it. This was her first step in completely giving up. Or maybe it was the tenth step. She’d lost count after a while. 

“Great! Now, I seriously gotta go finish my homework, or else Mom’s gonna be mad, but I’ll meet you back down here in like… two hours? Ish?”

“You got it, kiddo.” He ran back up the stairs and she was alone again in the dining room. After a moment, she took her plate into the kitchen where Sapphire grabbed it out of her hands. Laughing, Ruby ushered her out of the kitchen, “_We_ do the dishes here! Guests just eat!”

Amethyst paused for a moment, thinking about what to do next. Pulling out her phone idly, she cursed under her when she remembered it had died. Well. She needed to get stuff out of the car anyways. She went out to her van grabbed a swimsuit, a phone charger, and her toiletries, then headed back towards her room. 

When she got to her door at the top of the stairs, it was ajar, and she could hear Pearl singing softly inside. Peeking her head around the door, she saw her changing the sheets on her bed. 

Before she could make herself scarce, Pearl looked up at her, confused.

“Oh, shoot, sorry. I just assumed-” Amethyst started. 

“No, no. Don’t worry. I’ll be out of your hair in just a moment.” Pearl didn’t look back up from the corner she was tucking in. 

“Am I even still allowed in here though? I don’t know when check out is and all that…”

“This is still your room. I’m just here to tidy up.” She finally looked up towards Amethyst, standing up from where she had bent over the bed. She cocked a hip and placed her hands on her pockets, waiting for Amethyst to say something instead of standing awkwardly in the doorway.

“Gotcha.” She was caught off guard by Pearl’s uneasy attempt at a smile, and chose to move into the little bathroom off to the side, rather than return it. It was easier now to look in the mirror at her reflection, and she started brushing her hair and trying to make herself generally feel more human. Pearl hmmed as she stepped around Amethyst in the bathroom. 

“Is there anything else you need?” Pearl asked as she milled about behind Amethyst. 

“Like, for the beach?” Amethyst pulled the brush through her hair, wincing as it pulled at the tangles that had formed. “Ugh, this stupid fu-”

“Amethyst! Watch your language,” Pearl admonished, cutting her off with a small scowl.

“I wouldn’t have to watch my language,” Amethyst growled, pulling the brush again, “If I could just get this stupid thing through my dumb hair.” 

Pearl folded her arms, watching Amethyst’s reflection struggle with the knots. Her eyebrows raised as she held back a chuckle. “Do you need some help with that?”   


“No. I’m fine. I just,” She tugged again, “need a-”

“You’re going to hurt yourself.” Pearl warned, her voice edging dangerously into ‘I told you so’ territory. 

Amethyst groaned. Was Pearl always this… full of it? She pulled the brush out of her hair and dropped it on the counter, choosing instead to run her fingers through her hair. “It doesn’t matter what my hair looks like anyways if we’re just going to the beach.” 

“If you say so.” Pearl said as she stepped out of the bathroom, “Though I can’t imagine it will be any easier to manage once it’s full of salt and sand.” 

Amethyst reached to shut the door at her heels, only a hair away from slamming it loudly.

“I’ll see you downstairs in a bit, Amethyst,” Pearl called through the door, “Try not to damage any property while you’re up here. Or yourself!” 

Grumbling, Amethyst gave up on her hair and started to change into her swimsuit. “I’ll show you property damage,” she mumbled rolling her eyes and smacking the offending object. It clattered to the tile floor and echoed in the small room. 

“Stupid hairbrush.” 


	9. Let's Go to the Beach, Beach

They’d begun the walk down to the beach, once everyone had finished their respective responsibilities and packed what they needed. The sun was warm and while there hadn’t been a breeze, the weather somehow seemed picture perfect. Amethyst, uncomfortable with the intimacy she was trying so hard to fake, walked by Steven. It was easier anyways, to walk by Steven, since she felt awkward trying to pretend this was normal… and she was still miffed at Pearl for reasons unknown to even her. 

“I think the first thing we should do is build a sandcastle,” Steven said, his eyes bright with possibilities. 

Amethyst shifted her surfboard under her arm, “Sandcastles are so lame though. We would need like… a whole sand kingdom. A queen’s nothing without people to boss around, right?” 

“Sandcastles aren’t always lame!” He defended, “You should see my mom’s- they’re insane!” 

Pearl’s laugh at the comment was nothing short of obnoxious to Amethyst. “Oh, Steven! Stop, you’re exaggerating.” Amethyst could practically hear the unspoken,  _ ‘don’t stop’ _ asking for more compliments.

“What, do they have some kind of working drawbridge?” Amethyst prodded skeptically, looking ahead to avoid meeting Steven’s eyes. 

“The last castle was big enough for the family of crabs I placed inside,” Garnet added calmly, as though she couldn’t hear Amethyst’s mocking tone. 

“They were so cute,” Steven cooed, “I bet they loved their new home.” 

“Yeah, until it washed away,” Amethyst said. “Then they were just contributing to the homeless crab epidemic that’s sweeping the nation.” 

Pearl narrowed her eyes, not backing down from Amethyst’s wordless challenge, “I suppose they would have, if the sandcastle hadn’t stayed at that beach longer than the crabs. How long was it there, Garnet? Wasn’t it a little over two weeks?”

Unhelpfully, Garnet just shrugged, much to Pearl’s visible irritation. Steven swallowed, noticeably uncomfortable with Pearl and Amethyst’s one-up-manship. He quickly relaxed as the beach came into view. 

“Guys, we’re here! Ruby, race me!” Steven called, already running ahead. 

“Hey! You can’t start without me!” Ruby unceremoniously transferred the cooler she was carrying to Garnet, whose hand was already out and waiting expectantly. Ruby pushed forward and ran after Steven, calling out “I’m gonna get you, little man!” 

The path to the beach was lined with old fencing, blown crooked by the winds and overgrown with pale green grass. Ruby and Steven ran, rushing through the soft ecru sand and jumping two at a time down the wooden logs that served as stairs leading to the waterfront. Ruby, despite Steven’s head start, was easily gaining on him. As she reached neck and neck with him, his laughs grew louder and louder. From behind her, Amethyst heard Sapphire shout a small, “Go Ruby!” while Garnet and Pearl laughed. 

Eventually, the group caught up to the runners, who had collapsed at the edge of the tall grassy area and were laughing in the sand, out of breath and flushed at the effort. 

“So, who won?” Pearl asked with a wide smile, “Though I’m not sure it was an entirely fair fight...” 

Steven laughed as Pearl nudged his pudgy stomach with her sandaled foot. “Mo-om, stop that!” 

“Do it again, Pearl! He cheated! I’d tickle him myself, but I’m just… so… tired…” Ruby gasped dramatically as she said each word, before flopping back and sticking out her tongue to play dead. Sapphire’s giggles threatened to break the stoic look off of Ruby’s “corpse” face, Amethyst could see the corners of her mouth twitching with the effort of keeping still. 

“Oh no, mum’s dead.” Garnet said, deadpan and unaffected, “I’ll get you for this, Steven. Amethyst, grab his feet.” She commanded, pointing at where his legs dug into the sand. 

“No, Amethyst! You don’t have to do this!” Steven cried between laughs. 

Pearl pretended to be scandalized, clutching imaginary pearls. “My baby, so young but already a cheater. Where on earth did I go wrong?” 

Before Amethyst’s brain could decide whether or not Garnet had been serious about lifting him, Ruby shot up to her feet. “A ha! Distraction!” She shouted, before running a ways further onto the beach. “Race you to that rock!” Sand was harder to run on than she must have anticipated, and Amethyst snorted as her foot pushed out from underneath her and she face planted onto the beach. 

“That’s my wife.” Sapphire said, pressing her fingers to her temple as a fond smile fell across her face. 

Garnet smiled, looking down at Sapphire fondly, “Let’s go and set up,” she said, “before mum does anything else she might regret.”

Eventually they got all of their things set up a safe distance from the water. Ruby and Sapphire spread a large blanket down while Pearl set up an umbrella. Garnet had managed to carry multiple chairs and set them in a row beneath the shade. Amethyst’s surfboard was stuck in the sand off to the side, and she and Steven were digging through the coolers for food. 

“Both of you stay out of there,” Garnet said, “We just got here, we can’t eat all of the food now.” 

“Aww, you’re no fun Garnet,” Amethyst whined. “Steve-o and I just wanna get our snack on!”

Steven nodded solemnly, “She’s right though, Amethyst. If we eat all these goodies now… there will be no goodies for later.” 

“Eh… whatever dude. If I can’t get my snack on, I’m gonna get my surf on!” Her surfboard behind her was already waxed and ready for the water. She stood quickly, peeling off the long and ratty ‘Welcome to Jersey’ t-shirt she’d been wearing over her swimsuit. 

“Bungakowa!” She hoisted the surfboard above her head and ran out to the water. 

Steven chased after her, “Amethyst! Wait for me!” 

Under the umbrella, Garnet tried to share an amused look with Pearl. Pearl, however, had jumped up as Steven ran. 

“Steven!” she cried, her voice loud and shrill, “You forgot to put on sunscreen!” 

“Chill out, P.” Amethyst called from the water. She sat with a leg hanging from either side of the board, the leash floating in the water as she worked to attach it to her ankle. “He put it on before we even left, remember?” 

Steven stopped where the water hit his feet, and shivered as the water lapped over his toes. “ _ I _ remember!” He shouted, “I remember because  _ someone  _ got some in my mouth!” 

“Something tells me you’ll survive.” Amethyst deadpanned. She laid flat on her board then paddled away quickly, moving further and further out to sea. The water’s movements became more pronounced as she swam. She lifted her chest up, before pushing the nose of her board below an oncoming wave and duck diving below the swell. She kicked her feet against the tail pad and came up smoothly. 

She could see Pearl at the shoreline fussing over Steven, her soft yellow sundress separating her from the tan sand and the blue sky behind her.  _ Stupid lady doesn’t even listen, I just told her he was already wearing sunscreen. _ Amethyst watched, trying her best to be frustrated, as Pearl lifted one of his arms and appeared to be rubbing more onto his skin. 

With the ease of muscle memory, Amethyst laid back down onto her stomach and let the next wave push her back towards Steven and Pearl. Her face itched with the salt from the water and her already tangled hair caught against one of her swimsuit’s shoulder straps. 

“Amethyst!” Steven called, turning away from Pearl’s ministrations to cup his hands and shout, “We’ll be out in just one second! Don’t go back out yet!” 

Amethyst raised her arm, giving him a thumbs up. She watched as Pearl half-jogged back to the blanket. Pushing herself up on her arms, she stretched, seeing Pearl set her large hat in the chair next to Garnet and peel her sundress off over her head. The action revealed a deep blue swimsuit underneath, the bottoms high cut around the hips and the top wrapped high around her neck.

Amethyst was so caught up in staring at the now  _ very  _ visible Pearl walking towards her that she didn’t notice the crest approaching her from behind. Her weight on the front of the surfboard dipped and she pearled forwards into the water, the surprise of it causing her to gasp in the saltwater. 

She came to the surface sputtering and pushed her hair back away from her face. Her board, still leashed to her ankle, popped out behind her and made to shoot towards her head. With what clear thought she had left in her brain, she caught it just in time. 

“Woah, Amethyst, are you okay?” Steven was pushing towards her now, walking through the water quickly. She’d floated far enough to shore to be able to touch the bottom, but the water level was rising fast on his smaller frame.

“Yeah, I’m good.” She coughed, trying to catch her breath and failing to steady herself against the perpetual motion of the water. 

“What happened? You were just sitting there when all of the sudden-” 

“Shark.” Amethyst interrupted, “Just saw a shark.” Before he could question her any further, she smiled and stood to ruffle his hair. “Don’t worry about it bro, I’ve wiped out much worse… trust me.”

“Maybe I  _ shouldn’t  _ ask you to teach me to surf then…” Steven teased. 

Amethyst splashed him, “Maybe I wouldn’t teach a squirt like you anyways!” 

They splashed back and forth for a minute, Amethyst doing her best to fight back while keeping her surfboard relatively still in the water. Then, suddenly, they were both hit by a large wave of water. 

“I win,” Garnet said through the noises of their coughing. They turned to see her squatting in the water, her sunglasses bobbing up and down at the surface. 

Pearl, standing at full height beside her, said, “I think  _ we  _ win, Garnet. I helped!” They smiled at each other, satisfied with the damage they had done.

It didn’t take them long to recover from their surprise and, once they did, Amethyst met Steven’s eyes conspiratorially. He nodded back with a grin. Within seconds, Garnet and Pearl were equally drenched. The ensuing splash war was perilous as Steven climbed onto Amethyst’s shoulders and launched an attack from above. 

Eventually, after Steven had worn himself out (“Garnet… carry me back to land…”), they headed back to the shore where Ruby and Sapphire were drawing pictures with a stick in the sand. 

“Um… is it a porcupine?” Ruby asked. 

“No, it’s not a porcupine.” Sapphire added detail with the stick, “Next guess.” 

“Oh gee. I don’t know Sapphy, is it… a grenade?” Ruby chuckled, embarrassed. She looked up as Garnet’s shadow. “Whaddya think Garnet? Help me out, I’m losing pretty bad!” 

Garnet squatted to get a closer look. “It’s a picture of you, mum.” 

Ruby laughed, “No, seriously, what’s it look-” 

“She’s right, Ruby. See?” 

Steven kneeled next to her. “Oh! I see it! Look, here’s your hair and there’s your eyes and mouth-” He pointed at each part of the crude sand drawing, careful to not accidentally mess it up. 

“But what are these spiky things?” Ruby asked, bewildered.

Sapphire smiled, “They’re your limbs, silly.” Everyone laughed as she leaned over to kiss Ruby’s flushed cheek. 

“I think I hear Steven’s stomach growling!” Ruby tried to change the subject, stumbling up and moving over towards the cooler. “Sandwiches anybody?”

Steven widened his eyes, “Woah…  _ I  _ didn’t even hear my stomach growling.”

Half an hour later, they were all finished and full, surrounded by naked grape stems and orange peels. Ruby and Sapphire had both fallen asleep under the shade of the umbrella, Garnet and Steven were digging a hole a ways away for her to bury him in, and Pearl had pulled a book out of her bag to read. Amethyst, now too hot under the afternoon sun to return to the warm water, made a haphazard sand-snowman using the grape stems for arms. 

She felt, for once, comfortably quiet. She could enjoy this. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm expanding my social media empire! Feel free to find me on tumblr (@stevens-gem-family) OR instagram (@stevens_gem_family). I love hearing your thoughts/ideas! This chapter is a little shorter than some, but chapter 10 is going to be a doozy. It's a little longer and has an interesting format. 
> 
> Thanks for the support so far <3

**Author's Note:**

> Come visit me @stevens-gem-family on tumblr :)


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